An Officer and a Gentleman
An Officer and a Gentleman was made in 1982. It stars Richard Gere as Zack Mayo, Debra Winger as Paula Pokrifki, and Louis Gossett, Jr. as Sgt. Emil Foley. I think that the cast is amazing. Louis Gosset, Jr. won best supporting actor for his role, and Debra Winger was nominated for best supporting actress for hers. I think that this movie was a good jumping off point for Richard Gere, his work in this movie was great. I think that it was a great movie for its time. It definitely couldn't be done now because we are too caught up with special effects. I am a hopeless romantic, so for me this movie stands out for it's romantic qualities more than anything else. I think that the reason An Officer and a Gentleman will be one of those movies that will last forever is because a good story will last forever and as long as there are hopeless romantics in the world, these types of stories will last for all time. Zack Mayo is the unwanted son of a sailor father (also an alcoholic and womanizer). Mayo has had it less than fair; his mother killed herself when he was just a boy. He was then sent to live with his father in the Philippine Islands on top of a brothel. After graduating from college Mayo decides to join the Naval Office
There is one scene that I think stands out among the others. In the previous scene Mayo gets into a fight and afterward he is with Paula; she is trying to console him and tell him it's not his fault. He is now in a bad mood and doesn't want to talk about anything and becomes agitated by anything that she says. He sits down with a bottle (something his father would do) and starts to say things that he doesn't mean. He starts to act like her feelings don't matter and treats her like she is just a prostitute. She vocalizes this and starts to leave, but she's upset and can't get the door unlocked. Mayo has a moment and realizes that he is acting like his father; he stops her from leaving and apologizes. I don't think that he would have cared, but inside I think that he was already starting to love her. The reason this scene stands out is because I think that this is Mayo's first step in realizing what he doesn't want to be and that he needs to change (later Sgt. Foley will help him to better realize this). It also shows Mayo in both lights - the asshole that he doesn't want to be and the compassionate gentleman that he can become. I don't think that before this scene the viewer understands that he is like his father. I think that this scene is important because it gives the viewer hope for Mayo and what he can be. It also gives a hint as to what he will be in the end. This movie has no special effects and no computer graphics; the movie just is what it is. But I think that's good because the story doesn't hide behind all of that. The flashbacks in the beginning (where the viewer learns about Mayo's life after his mother died) were all set apart from the rest of the movie by their tint. They were in sort of a yellow hue; they reminded me of old film. Which I think fit because they were supposed to be from a memory. I think it helped to distinguish the past from the present; the tint
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1288
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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