Perfectly adorable

Dreadfully Boring

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Set against the backdrop of boxing at the Naval Academy, the movie centers on Jake Huard (James Franco) a young man whose dream of attending Annapolis becomes a reality, only for him to struggle under the tough regime of commanding officer, Midshipman Lieutenant 1st Class Cole (Tyrese Gibson) while trying to romance one of his instructors Ali Halloway (Jordana Brewster, who is gorgeous) I'll start of by saying I like movies like this, I'm a fan of "An Officer And A Gentleman" and the Kevin Coaster and Ashton Kutcher effort "The Guardian" and this is no exception. Franco and Gibson both put in good performances. I'm starting to become a bit of a Franco fan, as he can always be relied upon for a reliable performance. Here he is excellent. All the supportin cast put in solid performances especially Donnie Whalberg as LCDR Burton, and Vicellous Reon Shannon as Nance. Chi McBride, Wilmer Calderan (in his small role as Estrada) and Roger Fan are all good and Charles Napier pops up in a small role, but he doesn't have any scenes of note.All the scenes are well filmed and have the right amount of tension. The dramatic scenes work well, and the boxing scenes pack a punch. One complaint is the boxing competition went from first round straight to the semi finals The film was considered a box office bomb, as it failed to break even with production costs and it received mostly negative reviews from critics with most considering it a poor imitation of "An Officer And A Gentleman" with a bit of "Rocky" thrown in. I think sold it differently, it might have done differently. Given the talent involved, I'm really surprised this failed to find an audience. It's not perfect, but it is more than watchable.

Annapolis is a film that features James Franco and Tyrese Gibson together with Jordana Brewster, Donnie Wahlberg, Roger Fan, and Chi McBride. The film revolves around Jake Huard, a young man who dreams of one day attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.It was directed by Justin Lin.A poor but ambitious young man strives to make good in one of the most competitive institutions on Earth in this military drama. Jake Huard is a young man from a small Maryland town who grew up in a blue-collar family with few opportunities. Wanting to make something of himself after completing high school, Jake set his sights on attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he narrowly makes the cut and becomes one of the 1,200 applicants selected for the freshman class. Jake finds that life as a "plebe" is intellectually challenging and physically punishing, and he soon develops a powerful adversary in Midshipman Lt. Cole, his training commander, who pushes Jake to the limit to see if he has what it takes. Standing on the razor's edge of failing as both a student and a soldier, Jake makes a brave but dangerous gesture toward proving himself by entering the Brigade Championships, a Naval boxing competition where he'll go into the ring against the best fighters in the Navy -- including Lt. Cole. Jake soon has one person on his side when he strikes up a friendship with Ali, a pretty young officer who believes Jake has what it takes to go the distance.This isn't as much a movie as it is a recipe for a film in which the ingredients are clichés and formulaic elements of an inspirational film as well as a rip-offs particularly that of "An Officer And A Gentleman".What's worse,character development and narrative substance are absent in it.

In the boxing ring, men flock to see hunky James Franco (as Jake S. Huard) strut his six-pack abs. He also works as a ship-welder for his father, but Mr. Franco would rather join the Navel Academy at "Annapolis". Franco gets his wish when Donnie Wahlberg (as Lieutenant Burton), a self-described "36-year-old out-of-shape lieutenant," who can be caught ogling Franco in the opening fight, pulls some strings to get Franco signed up. Franco, who "came straight here from high school," meets Tyrese Gibson (as Commander Cole) in the ring, makes goo-goo eyes at pretty superior officer Jordana Brewster (as Ali), and trains to be a better boxer.Other than seeing handsome Franco's bugling muscles, you may not think Justin Lin's "Annapolis" is worth watching. The story is ordinary to a fault, and clichéd beyond hope. But, it's not too poorly produced. And, you can see how supporting and featured players can make something out of an assignment - going to the head of the class is Vicellous Shannon (as Marcus "Twins" Nance), who does an exemplary job with his character. Sporting more fat than muscle, Mr. Shannon milks every drop out of his script, without overdoing it, and takes the title "Best Supporting Actor" in a film that will wasn't ever going to win any awards.**** Annapolis (1/27/06) Justin Lin ~ James Franco, Tyrese Gibson, Vicellous Shannon, Jordana Brewster

Like other reviewers here, I'm a Naval Academy graduate. I'm proud of it. Those of us who went there refer to it as it The Academy. Not "this academy" and certainly not "Annapolis"--that's what civilians call the place. To Mids, Annapolis is just a sort of cute little town outside the gates. This movie has about as much to do with the real Academy as, as, well darn--I can't even think of a suitable simile. Let's put it this way--the characters in the movie wear Midshipman uniforms and call each other by Naval rank titles. That's about it. It costs very, very little to make a movie accurate, but no one on this movie would let accuracy get in the way of "telling a story". But when you're supposed to be telling a story set in reality, these inaccuracies effectively gut the story. Gee, you want an exciting Brigade Boxing story? Try Oliver North boxing James Webb for the 1968 Brigade Championship--a true story, and far more compelling and exciting than this story. Other reviewers have pointed out many of the inaccuracies in this story but oddly enough many others see this as a "recruiting story" for the Navy or the military; I think this conclusion could only be reached by those who are even more ignorant of the service than those making this movie. All in all a pretty complete waste of an hour and forty-eight minutes. If you want to see a decent movie about the Naval Academy, "Navy Blue and Gold" made in 1937 is a far more accurate depiction, even 71 years later. It's also a much better story.