Based on the true story of Carl Brashear, the first African-American to break the color barrier in the U.S. Navy's diving program, this biography is a straightforward no-frills tribute. Played by Gooding, Brashear comes across as the very embodiment of perseverence, as shown in his rise from sharecropper's son to military man. De Niro plays Billy Sunday, a racist training officer whose discrimination nearly kills Brashear on several occasions before Brashear earns Sunday's respect. As Brashear's career advances, Sunday's declines due to drunkenness and insubordination. When Brashear loses his leg in the line of duty, the now-recovered Sunday helps him retrain using a prosthetic leg. The character of Billy Sunday is actually a composite drawn from many men in Carl Brashear's military career.

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