Every year over 50,000 young men and women apply to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.  Out of that only about 1,200 are accepted.  Out of that only the best survive.

Maryland local boy Jake Huard has accepted that one day he would always join the navy.  When he was a kid he used to look across the river from his home and see the cadets in their crisp white uniforms and say to himself, “that’s gonna be me someday.”  His mother always told him how sure she he was he would get in.  His dad, the foreman at the naval shipyard across the river from the academy, never thought his son would actually succeed at the academy.

After initially being rejected, he is told about twelve hours before induction that a spot had opened up for him in this year’s class.  But he soon finds the academy is a lot tougher than he initially thought, particularly with Commanding Officer, Midshipman Lt. Cole who previously served in the Marines before coming to serve at the Naval Academy.

By Christmas break, it is plain to see that he is the worst in his class, second only to bunkmate, Nance, nicknamed “Twins” due to his obesity.  Combined with having a CO who apparently hates his guts, Huard contemplates not returning in the New Year.

After sharing a drink and some food for thought with Ali, one of the trainers at the Academy and whom he also has a crush on, he decides at the last minute to return.

He and Nance find they must work together to overcome each other’s problems.  With help from Ali, Huard starts training hard for Brigade boxing championships where he hopes to get in the ring with Lt. Cole.

While not based on any factual accounts, Annapolis is an authentic look at life at the Naval Academy, and one man’s journey to realize his dream of serving his country.  In the production notes on the movies official website, screenwriter Dave Collard says that he was inspired to write this film after seeing an article in an issue of Sports Illustrated that told about the legendary boxing tournament, the Brigade Championships, put on each year by the academy.

In the two weeks before filming started on this film, the cast, comprising both principles and extras, were shipped off to a special boot camp, led by Annapolis Academy Class of ’91 graduate Marine Captain Scott D. Carson, retired. 

Director Justin Lin has done a fair job of bringing his audience into the world of life at the Naval Academy; however, perhaps the most confusing part was the opening scene.  The film opens at a boxing match, apparently not at the academy and in which just one of the minor characters of the film is fighting in.  From there we jump to our lead character, Huard.

James Franco (Spiderman movies, “Freaks and Geeks”) did a fine job of bringing his character’s insecurity and uncertainty to the screen. 

Tyrese Gibson (2 Fast 2 Furious, Four Brothers) is believable enough as an unrelenting commanding officer.  Although I can’t quite put my finger on it, as tough as he did play his character, there still seemed be a certain edge lacking from his performance.

Panama native Jordana Brewster (The Faculty, The Fast and the Furious) could not have been more perfect as one of the Navy’s few female officers, Ali at the Academy.  The chemistry between her and Franco also worked quite well, though appeared somewhat strained at times.  Still it was clear they both liked each other, but couldn’t due to regulations.

Donnie Wahlberg who played the character of Lt. Cmdr. Burton had quite a minor role given his high-billing.  His character was that of the only Naval Officer not to give up believing in Huard.  However, not only was the character quite minor, it also seemed unmotivated.  It was unclear just what his connection to Huard was and why he was intent on believing in him.  Perhaps the scenes explaining that were cut and will resurface on the DVD release next summer.

Vicellous Reon Shannon (Can’t Hardly Wait, 13 episodes of “24”) was great in playing a character who perhaps wasn’t really cut out for the Naval Academy but was there because, unlike Huard, he had so many people in his small hometown believing in him.  He also was able to bring some moments of comic relief such as in trying to lift Huard’s spirits, he compares himself to the Arkansas and Huard to the state of Mississippi as being the only state worse than Arkansas.

Overall, this film delivers a pretty good drama for your box-office bucks.