inspirational tale about triumph of the human spirit be usually big turn offs for me . the most surprising thing about men of honor be how much i enjoy it in spite of myself . the movie be a predictable and cliched a it get and but it work . much credit go to the exhilarate performance by both lead . it a perfect role for cuba gooding and jr. and who wonderfully restrain here . we have come to expect a lot from de niro and and he doesn not disappoint . he create a darkly funny portrait . director george tillman and jr. set out to make an old style flick and come up with a winner .