Watching Annapolis is a dizzying exercise in deja vu.
You'll get flashbacks to everything from Richard Gere's An Officer and a Gentleman to Tom Cruise's All the Right Moves.
Jake Huard (James Franco) has his heart set on attending the elite Annapolis Naval Academy, but he's just the son of a poor dock worker.
Jake and his father Bill (Brian Goodman) help build the ships Jake dreams of sailing.
As luck would have it, Jake is a promising amateur boxer and Annapolis has a legendary annual boxing competition, so he's championed for admittance by navy recruiter Lt. Commander Burton (Donnie Wahlberg).
Jake's dream-come-true turns into a nightmare-in-the-making when his drill instructor Cole (Tyrese Gibson) takes an immediate dislike to the dockyard hot head.
Like the Cruise character in All the Right Moves who butted heads with his football coach, Jake has to prove his dedication is as burning as his talent.
Like the Gere character in An Officer and a Gentleman, Jake is fortunate to find the love and support of a beautiful woman, in his case a junior officer named Ali (Jordana Brewster).
It is clear from the first time Cole and Jake square off that they will meet each other in the final round of the boxing competition.
Gibson does a convincing job of being the sadistic task master.
His face and body seem frozen in a state of menace, and he barks every last line of dialogue in fine military cadence.
It's what the role demands but, in films like Baby Boy, Four Brothers and even 2 Fast 2 Furious, Gibson showed he is capable of much more.
Like his idols James Dean and Marlon Brando, Franco prides himself in being an intense method actor looking for truth in everything his characters do.
He's outstanding, but the material hardly demands this kind of dedication and interpretation.
To his credit, the naturally slight Franco bulked up admirably for the role but he still looks like a lightweight when he and Gibson spar off in the ring.
Franco's best work is with Jake's roommates, especially the chubby Twins (Vicellous Shannon), who Cole humiliates, and Loo (Roger Fan), whose sense of honour is greater than his loyalty to friends.
Franco and Goodman bring credibility to the cliched relationship of father and rebellious son and McCaleb Burnett emerges as the real villain of the film as Cole's lackey.
Brewster has the thankless role of playing Jake's love interest because there are no sparks between the characters or the actors.
Justin Lin's direction is merely serviceable which is disappointing because he showed so much promise with his debut film Better Luck Tomorrow.
Annapolis works because it presses emotional buttons which are virtually foolproof, not because it offers anything new to the audience.
(This film is rated PG)
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