An Officer And A Gentleman (1982)
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An Officer and a Gentleman: Movie Review
Genetics are not the only factor that defines us; sometimes we have to break the mold and be different from our parents. The movie started out slow, but then towards the middle of the movie when Zack met Paula I was beginning to be drawn in. I liked the love story because it shows romance is out there, it just takes meeting the right person. I also liked that even though it was an adult movie it still taught the audience a lesson that genetics do not have to define us; we can be totally different from our parents.
I liked the life lesson the movie taught, even if we go through rough patches in our lives and experiences hard times or sadness we can grow from it and change our lives for the better. This movie can relate to everyone because we have all experienced sadness or tough times at some point in our lives. The characters in this movie experience tough times in their lives, but eventually learn from it and change their lives for the better.
This movie shows the importance of being our own person. The main character Zack (Richard Gere) grew up with a father who was into drugs and a mother who was depressed and committed suicide. Zack broke away from what his parents were and became a totally different person. The other character Paula (Debra Winger), grew up with a mother who was in love with a Marine, became pregnant, tried to get him to stay with her, but he ended up leaving her. Paula’s mother had to raise Paula all on her own and marry another man who she did not love. Paula started out following her mother’s path by falling in love with a Marine. Different from her mother’s life though, Paula and Zack loved each other.
An Officer and a Gentleman shows happiness and sadness. The beginning of the movie was kind of confusing, because it jumps right in with a boy being beat up by other children, and a man being shown drunk. It is not until later in the movie that this scene made more sense, because the writers were trying the show the poor life that Zack had as a child, and show the change in him throughout the movie. I think if the writers were more clear at the beginning I might have liked the movie more.
The movie began with sadness, by showing Zack being mistreated by his father and other children. Then he goes into the military and finds happiness with his troops. The troops become his new friends and make him feel like he is part of a new family. Then sadness strikes him again with the loss of his friend due to suicide, and it takes him a while to find happiness again. This part in the movie was incredibly sad to me, because I have lost a friend due to suicide. Because of this, I could relate to how Zack was feeling in the movie. It is really hard to move on with one’s life after losing a friend or a family member from suicide. After losing my friend I changed my life because I learned that life was too short. After losing my friend, I worked to change my perspective on life to live a fuller life. This is kind of like the advice the audience learns from An Officer and a Gentleman. We have to experience sadness or tough times in our lives in order to learn from it, move on, and make our lives better.
All romance films show hope and An Officer and a Gentleman is a romance movie, therefore it also shows hope. This is found to be true because Zack finds hope of a new life, different from his father when he joins the military and falls in love with Paula. Paula also finds hope in her love with Zack, because she finally understood that he was there for her through it all.
I found this movie interesting by the characters relationships with each other and how they are also trying to be totally different from their parents. Zack and Paula worked hard to break the mold and not follow in their parents footsteps. Zack went into the military and stayed away from drugs and alcohol, unlike his father. Paula and her mother, even though they are linked by genetics, are different from one another. When Paula’s mother was young she also fell in love with a Marine but she did not go after him and fight to keep him when he went off to war. Paul was different; she loved Zack and she wanted to be with him.
I also found it very interesting how Zack’s friend Sid and Paula’s friend Annette were similar to Zack’s and Paula’s parents. It was as if the writers were trying to show us how they would have turned out if they followed their parents’ footsteps. Sid was unable to complete the military training, became depressed, and eventually committed suicide. Sid was similar to Zack’s mother because she was also depressed and committed suicide. Both these characters commit suicide because they had a rough patch that they could not overcome. Annette was similar to Paula’s mother. Annette only wanted to marry a Marine and tried to trap him into staying with her by pretending she was pregnant. Annette was similar to Paul’s mother because they both tried to get their men to stay or take them with them to their military base.
The sound was the most powerful part in this movie, especially in the ending scene. The last scene in this movie was my favorite part because it showed Paula and Zack finding their happy ending. Zack graduated from the military and came back to Paula. This last scene also showed that they were able to succeed in spite of their genetic background. They were able to break the mold and be different from their parents.
During the last scene when Zack walks into the paper mill, the sounds of the machines are loud, but as he approaches Paula, the machine sounds fade and the music starts to play. Once he picks her up and carries her out of the paper mill, the machine sounds disappear altogether leaving only the music. The sounds of the machines fading symbolizes her problems disappearing. As he carries her out the music grows just as their love grows for each other. Paula’s mother and her friend Annette were also in this scene and saw how happy Paula was with Zack. Paul’s mother was shocked when Zack came in and swept Paula away. The way the writer has Annette saying “way to go Paula,” the audience can tell Annette is happy for her friend but she is also jealous because Paula got the Marine and she did not.
As an audience member, I thought An Officer and a Gentleman was written okay, but I think it could have been better. The beginning of the movie was slow and just jumped right in which made me confused. I think the writers could have done a better job by making the beginning more clear. If the writers were more clear about the little boy at the beginning being Zack and showing him being mistreated by his friends and family it would have been more beneficial for the audience because we could to see more of a transition throughout his life. The part that I did not like was at the end. My favorite scene when Zack comes to sweep Paula away was weak because their acting was not very strong. For example, when Zack kisses Paula I did not think the kiss was believable. I also did not like the way Paula put her ear plugs into Zack’s mouth, it killed the romance for me.
There were some parts in the movie I liked too. I liked how it attracts both male and female audience members, the men through the military and the women through the love story. I also liked how the movie taught the audience a lesson: we are able to become our own selves, there is no rule that we have to become exactly like our parents, we just have to work hard and become our own individuals. Sometimes we experience sadness or tough times in order to learn from them and change our lives for the better. Zack found his happiness when he broke away from his father’s lifestyle, became a Marine, and fell in love with Paula.
Genetics are not the only factor that defines us; sometimes we have to break the mold and be different from our parents. The movie started out slow, but then towards the middle of the movie when Zack met Paula I was beginning to be drawn in. I liked the love story because it shows romance is out there, it just takes meeting the right person. I also liked that even though it was an adult movie it still taught the audience a lesson that genetics do not have to define us; we can be totally different from our parents.
I liked the life lesson the movie taught, even if we go through rough patches in our lives and experiences hard times or sadness we can grow from it and change our lives for the better. This movie can relate to everyone because we have all experienced sadness or tough times at some point in our lives. The characters in this movie experience tough times in their lives, but eventually learn from it and change their lives for the better.
This movie shows the importance of being our own person. The main character Zack (Richard Gere) grew up with a father who was into drugs and a mother who was depressed and committed suicide. Zack broke away from what his parents were and became a totally different person. The other character Paula (Debra Winger), grew up with a mother who was in love with a Marine, became pregnant, tried to get him to stay with her, but he ended up leaving her. Paula’s mother had to raise Paula all on her own and marry another man who she did not love. Paula started out following her mother’s path by falling in love with a Marine. Different from her mother’s life though, Paula and Zack loved each other.
An Officer and a Gentleman shows happiness and sadness. The beginning of the movie was kind of confusing, because it jumps right in with a boy being beat up by other children, and a man being shown drunk. It is not until later in the movie that this scene made more sense, because the writers were trying the show the poor life that Zack had as a child, and show the change in him throughout the movie. I think if the writers were more clear at the beginning I might have liked the movie more.
The movie began with sadness, by showing Zack being mistreated by his father and other children. Then he goes into the military and finds happiness with his troops. The troops become his new friends and make him feel like he is part of a new family. Then sadness strikes him again with the loss of his friend due to suicide, and it takes him a while to find happiness again. This part in the movie was incredibly sad to me, because I have lost a friend due to suicide. Because of this, I could relate to how Zack was feeling in the movie. It is really hard to move on with one’s life after losing a friend or a family member from suicide. After losing my friend I changed my life because I learned that life was too short. After losing my friend, I worked to change my perspective on life to live a fuller life. This is kind of like the advice the audience learns from An Officer and a Gentleman. We have to experience sadness or tough times in our lives in order to learn from it, move on, and make our lives better.
All romance films show hope and An Officer and a Gentleman is a romance movie, therefore it also shows hope. This is found to be true because Zack finds hope of a new life, different from his father when he joins the military and falls in love with Paula. Paula also finds hope in her love with Zack, because she finally understood that he was there for her through it all.
I found this movie interesting by the characters relationships with each other and how they are also trying to be totally different from their parents. Zack and Paula worked hard to break the mold and not follow in their parents footsteps. Zack went into the military and stayed away from drugs and alcohol, unlike his father. Paula and her mother, even though they are linked by genetics, are different from one another. When Paula’s mother was young she also fell in love with a Marine but she did not go after him and fight to keep him when he went off to war. Paul was different; she loved Zack and she wanted to be with him.
I also found it very interesting how Zack’s friend Sid and Paula’s friend Annette were similar to Zack’s and Paula’s parents. It was as if the writers were trying to show us how they would have turned out if they followed their parents’ footsteps. Sid was unable to complete the military training, became depressed, and eventually committed suicide. Sid was similar to Zack’s mother because she was also depressed and committed suicide. Both these characters commit suicide because they had a rough patch that they could not overcome. Annette was similar to Paula’s mother. Annette only wanted to marry a Marine and tried to trap him into staying with her by pretending she was pregnant. Annette was similar to Paul’s mother because they both tried to get their men to stay or take them with them to their military base.
The sound was the most powerful part in this movie, especially in the ending scene. The last scene in this movie was my favorite part because it showed Paula and Zack finding their happy ending. Zack graduated from the military and came back to Paula. This last scene also showed that they were able to succeed in spite of their genetic background. They were able to break the mold and be different from their parents.
During the last scene when Zack walks into the paper mill, the sounds of the machines are loud, but as he approaches Paula, the machine sounds fade and the music starts to play. Once he picks her up and carries her out of the paper mill, the machine sounds disappear altogether leaving only the music. The sounds of the machines fading symbolizes her problems disappearing. As he carries her out the music grows just as their love grows for each other. Paula’s mother and her friend Annette were also in this scene and saw how happy Paula was with Zack. Paul’s mother was shocked when Zack came in and swept Paula away. The way the writer has Annette saying “way to go Paula,” the audience can tell Annette is happy for her friend but she is also jealous because Paula got the Marine and she did not.
As an audience member, I thought An Officer and a Gentleman was written okay, but I think it could have been better. The beginning of the movie was slow and just jumped right in which made me confused. I think the writers could have done a better job by making the beginning more clear. If the writers were more clear about the little boy at the beginning being Zack and showing him being mistreated by his friends and family it would have been more beneficial for the audience because we could to see more of a transition throughout his life. The part that I did not like was at the end. My favorite scene when Zack comes to sweep Paula away was weak because their acting was not very strong. For example, when Zack kisses Paula I did not think the kiss was believable. I also did not like the way Paula put her ear plugs into Zack’s mouth, it killed the romance for me.
There were some parts in the movie I liked too. I liked how it attracts both male and female audience members, the men through the military and the women through the love story. I also liked how the movie taught the audience a lesson: we are able to become our own selves, there is no rule that we have to become exactly like our parents, we just have to work hard and become our own individuals. Sometimes we experience sadness or tough times in order to learn from them and change our lives for the better. Zack found his happiness when he broke away from his father’s lifestyle, became a Marine, and fell in love with Paula.