Annapolis (2006)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Boring

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Jake Huard (James Franco) is an amateur boxer living with his gruff father. He's a shipbuilder at the naval shipyard. He gets late admission to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. His late mother supported him but his father does not. On the night before the Academy, his friends prank him pretending Ali (Jordana Brewster) to be a prostitute. It turns out she's one of his trainer. Matthew Cole (Tyrese Gibson) is his hard-nosed commander.This is a far inferior "An Officer and a Gentleman". Franco is too stiff. Tyrese Gibson doesn't have it. The story is oddly clichéd. It throws these clichés right at the audience's face. There is no real harm in these familiar tropes but it does get tiresome. This is utterly forgettable.

Even thou he was in several things before Annapolis, I consider this to be James Franco's breakthrough role. Just the training and studying alone, must have been as intense as the film itself. Franco plays Jake Huard, a first year student at the Naval academy. The story takes you inside one the hardest and most secretive schools in America, showing you just what it takes to even make it past your first year. The story itself is very inspirational and the acting is top notch. This isn't just a good film, it's one that you know took a lot out of everyone involved. I was entertained, excited, and inspired by an underdog who just wouldn't give up. This is a tremendous film that fell under the radar, because of a then, unknown cast, but it really is a must see for fans of inspirational, military and sports dramas.

This movie is really nice and entertaining. I wouldn't say it a real classic or something. But it is still worth your time.The trailers and promotions gave a completely wrong message to audience with a ship exploding etc. These promotions brought a very different kind of audience into the hall. That should be the reason for this low rating for this movie.Seeing the trailer I also thought it is a very action oriented navy movie. So I stayed away from this movie for some time. But when I got a chance to see this later, I was really surprised. It is not an action movie at all. But it has some real content in it. I would call it a very good entertainer supported by very good acting.Don't miss it.....

I don't have much new to say about this movie. I caught it on TV a few days ago after initially watching it when it came out on DVD.First, let me say, this is not a completely horrible movie (hence two stars). Its not a bad Sunday afternoon flick if you have absolutely nothing to do and/or can't change the channel on your TV and it happens to be on. But it is predictable and often boring, and James Franco's acting is pretty bad.What prompted me to write this is the absolutely ridiculous character of Cole as played by Tyrese Gibson. Others here have lauded Gibson's performance as a highlight of the film; I'd bet any amount of money none of these people had ever been in the military.I was in the Army for 6 years and was stationed on a variety of Army, Air Force, and Navy bases. I met and worked with hundreds, perhaps thousands of service members, and I can honestly say that not one of them 2was anything like Cole.Gibson has crafted a stunningly DULL and one-dimensional character in Cole. I get it, he is supposed to be intense, a hardened and serious Marine vet who is (God knows why) trying to become an officer.Do Gibson and the filmmakers think that people in the military are not supposed to have personalities? That they only have one expression? That they are completely unforgiving and seemingly without emotion? Hollywood depictions of the military are generally humorous to us veterans, but this is a new level of hilarity. My vet friends and I sometimes sit around and mock the cheesy dialog: "I WAS A SOLDIER FOR THREE YEARS AND I KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE A GOOD OFFICER." By the way, any REAL Marines who saw this movie would have cringed to hear that line. Marines are not soldiers. Marines are Marines. Soldiers are in the Army.For a real military movie that EVERYONE in the military loves, see FULL METAL JACKET. If you've already seen it, see it again rather than watching this garbage.