I went to a movie about a man from the wrong side of the tracks getting into the Naval Academy and a boxing match. This movie is about a child growing into a man set against the backdrop of a boxing competition at the Naval Academy, kind of like Officer and A Gentleman meets Rocky. The combination is uninteresting, unoriginal, oh, and not very good.

So, Jake Huard played by James Franco (Tristan + Isolde,) back doors his way into the Naval Academy even though he had mediocre school grades and issues with authority. Once at the Academy, he fights with his fellow students and particularly dislikes his cadet commander Cole, played by Tyrese Gibson (Four Brothers.) Huard continues to but heads with Cole and thinks about quitting until a female cadet commander Ali, played by Jordana Brewster (The Faculty,) convinces him to stay and ultimately competes in the Brigade Boxing Championship where he fights Cole.

There is only one good scene in the movie. Jake's roommate, Twins, played nicely by Vicellous Reon Shannon (Hart's War), explains to Jake why he is staying as his roommate when the rest have moved out. Twins, who has a weight problem, explains that because Jake has an attitude problem, all of the instructors and cadet commanders are focusing on him. Twins nicknames Jake Mississippi because Twins is from Arkansas and he tells Jake that Arkansas would be the worst state in the country in everything if it weren't for Mississippi. Shannon approaches a paper-thin character with the right amount of humor and drama, and if his character wasn't written so poorly, his performance may have been remembered six months down the road, but it wasn't and like the rest of the movie, two weeks from now people will say, "Wasn't there a movie about a military academy out?"

I want to know who thought this movie was a good idea. Actually, it was a good idea, when it was called An Officer and a Gentleman. Why do we need to se this example of the kid from the wrong side of the tracks learning about teamwork and commitment?

WARNING: Even though it's ripped from "Officer and a Gentleman," a major plot point is given away in the next paragraph.

The writer, Dave Collard, even goes so far as to have Twins try and commit suicide after he is told that he will be forced out of school for his weight problem. As I said, have you heard of a movie name An Officer and a Gentleman? Now, let's talk about the boxing match. In the three round match, Cole kicks the hell out of Jake for two rounds and then, in the third round, Jake digs deep down and starts pounding on Cole to the point where he is on the verge of winning when the bell rings ending the round. Cole is declared a winner in the decision. Hmm, what does this sound like? Oh, I don't know, maybe ROCKY? It's bad enough that a movie is a rip-off of a mediocre movie like An Officer and A Gentleman, but stealing the last scene of the first Rocky movie, and having a basic story that is similar to ALL of the Rocky movies is pathetic. Dave, what are you thinking?

I won't fault the young actors in the movie, its not there fault and they need the work. I would like to give kudos to Jordana Brewster for being hot in this movie and yet not showing any skin. This movie is like spending the money on a root canal only to discover that you have to get the tooth pulled, paying for pain that only that is supposed to prevent more pain, and being painful and worthless in the end anyway. Do I have to tell you not to see this movie?

Brian - the Naked Gun

Yes, this did remind me of "Officer and a Gentlemen," but not exactly as Brian sees it.

WARNING: The same plot point is given away in the next three paragraphs.

The attempted suicide is definitely a ripped-off plot point, but the reason for the suicide was different.

Twins didn't want to face his family and home town after facing separation from the academy, while Sid--David Keith's character from "Officer and a Gentleman"--committed suicide cause he left to academy to marry Lynette, who was only interested in being a military wife. Once Lynette dumped Sid's marriage proposal, Sid realized he screwed himself out of a wife AND the academy, thus killed himself.

The two reasons for the characters killing themselves were VERY different, but using them as plot points and the response from the main character was nearly identical.

Overall, I thought Annapolis had some good stuff in it. I didn't realize it was just another boxing movie, which put me off. It had more boxing movie cliches in it, than any other from "Officer and a Gentleman."

Jordana Brewster (The Faculty) has the greatest eyes and smile of the year so far. She was extremely adorable in this movie, and I watched it, greatly anticipating her return to the screen. It kept me interested, since the overall story was not.

I thought this picture was a great stride for all the young actors involved, excluding Donnie Wahlberg. Once I saw Wahlberg was cast, it immediately think less of the movie. The producers-director couldn't find ONE decent actor to play that part? Some stage actor with little screen credits? Come on.

My biggest problem with the picture was the unclear motivation for the characters of Jake (Franco) and Cole (Tyrese Gibson - Four Brothers). I couldn't exactly determine what was at stake for each of them in the final bout of the Brigade boxing tournament; the movie's climax.

I felt Jake grew enough as a character to not want "revenge" on Cole, so why was it important to him, besides to win it and be kicked out of the academy eventually anyways by no one's fault but his own? It wasn't even terribly clear why Jake wanted to go to the Naval Academy in the first place, except to maybe please his late mother or displease his disconnected father.

Again, it wasn't clear. A character's motivation gives the viewer his or her reason for cheering them onto achieving their goals. Without clear motivation, it was difficult to know why I should have cheered for Jake, or Cole, or anyone.

This movie smells like a direct to DVD release, which was lucky enough to make it into a theatrical release. It should have just been a DVD release where I think it may be better received and make more money. I guess what I'm saying is, wait until it comes out on DVD.