Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Zack Mayo is an aloof, taciturn man who aspires to be a navy pilot. Once he arrives at training camp for his 13-week officer's course, Mayo runs afoul of abrasive, no-nonsense drill Sergeant Emil Foley. Mayo is an excellent cadet, but a little cold around the heart, so Foley rides him mercilessly, sensing that the young man would be prime officer material if he weren't so self-involved. Zack's affair with a working girl is likewise compromised by his unwillingness to give of himself.
An Officer and a Gentleman is elevated primarily by its performances — Louis Gossett Jr. won an Oscar for his commanding turn as Sergeant Foley, and Richard Gere and Debra Winger generate real chemistry and raw emotion. The plot is a fairly conventional underdog-finds-himself romance, hitting familiar beats of the training-camp and working-class-romance genres without much subversion. Cinematography is competent and period-appropriate but unremarkable. The film follows a well-worn formula, limiting its novelty score despite being a solidly made example of its type. The ending — the iconic factory floor scene — is memorable and emotionally satisfying, if somewhat fairy-tale wish-fulfillment.