In
The Catcher in the Rye, Phoebe Caulfield tells her brother Holden that their brother D.B. is out in Hollywood writing a movie about the Annapolis Naval Academy. Holden quickly exclaims that D.B. knows nothing about Annapolis, therefore why would he do such a phony thing as write about the place? 55 years later, D.B. has finished his script under the alias David Collard and the result is called simply...
Annapolis.
A somewhat staged documentary, the film is also a recruitment tool for the Navy. Tyrese Gibson’s Cole, an officer seemingly on hire from the Marines, also provides a plug for that branch of the military.
But the story extends far beyond the Academy grounds. James Franco, as Jake Huard, personifies the everyday American and his story represents the possibilities inside one and all. Anyone can come from obscurity and make it into a prestigious establishment such as Annapolis. Then, if you have enough determination, you can quickly rise to the top of the recruits’ ranks, earn the respect of all of your former adversaries, and get the girl (who wanted you from the beginning). Better yet, you can earn a tear-restraining nod of approval from your father, which transcends those previous glories for most of
Annapolis’ sawed-off male audience with “Daddy” issues.
In Annapolis, we see a screenwriter at the top of his game, hunkered deep in intertextuality as he makes one allusion after another. Brilliantly disguised as a military drama, “Collard” again draws on his literary roots. Also in
The Catcher in the Rye," Holden, himself a military school student, recalls a student who was insulted to his emotional limit and then jumped out of his dorm window. “Collard” pays respect to J.D. Salinger by having an obese African-American follow suit. However, the screenwriter’s heart is far more compassionate than Salinger’s as he allows the recruit to live following his fall and also give Huard inspiring words to give him the necessary final push to greatness. In this moment and other notable ones, the soaring string arrangements by Bryan Tyler only further lift the audience’s heart in the midst of this inspirational tale.
Riding the recent popularity of high-profile boxing films, such as
Million Dollar Baby and
Cinderella Man (as if the genre ever took a break!), Annapolis continues the tradition of greatness in the ring. Will the underdog Huard gain enough weight to fight his rival in the Academy tournament? Will he become his equal after one school term with no prior experience? And will he get the chance to meet him in the finals? Surprisingly, the answer to all of these questions is “yes.” I continue to clutch my seizing heart as I write this.
“Collard” (clearly a pen name. No one has the same last name as a vegetable) is also keenly aware of the cinematic greats who have come before him. At one point, Huard and company are forced to do an alarming amount of push-ups in a consistently falling rain. Though he is able to answer all of Cole’s Annapolis trivia, Huard is still forced to remain by himself and do up-downs. Tipping his hat to Stanley Kubrick, “Collard” has the rest of Huard’s class rejoin him and in an act of solidarity perform their unnecessary up-downs. The DVD subtitles may reveal one of the budding midshipmen whispering “I am Spartacus.”
Also, the filmmakers were able to coax Sylvester Stallone’s stunt double from the Rocky films to make a cameo as the referee in the championship match. His gracing of the film symbolizes the last bit of icing on the cake and solidifies
Annapolis’ status as the next great boxing picture. “Collard” would do well to begin writing his Best Original Screenplay acceptance speech now.