‹ All movies
An Officer and a Gentleman poster

An Officer and a Gentleman

year 1982decade 80sdirector Taylor Hackfordgenre Dramagenre Romance

125 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Richard Gere Zack Mayo
Debra Winger Paula Pokrifki
David Keith Sid Worley
Robert Loggia Byron Mayo
Lisa Blount Lynette Pomeroy
Lisa Eilbacher Casey Seeger
Louis Gossett Jr. Sgt. Emil Foley
David Caruso Topper Daniels
Victor French Joe Pokrifiki
Tommy Petersen Young Zack
Tony Plana Emiliano Della Serra
Harold Sylvester Perryman
Grace Zabriskie Esther Pokrifiki
David Greenfield Schneider
Jane Wilbur Nellie Rufferwell
Buck Welcher Thraxton
Vern Taylor Tom Worley
Elizabeth Rogers Betty Worley
Ed Begley Jr. Voice of altitude chamber instructor

An Officer and a Gentleman | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennesseyproducer Craig Horlbeck theme Wait, This Movie Made How Much Money?
Explore episodeClose episode

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Gossett’s role overrated; Lynette defense; Gere’s kissing

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:49Read transcript
  • A hot take calls Foley slightly overrated because the showy yelling role is easier than Gere, Winger and Keith's internal emotional parts, while stressing admiration for Gossett's talent.
  • Diggstown is named as a favorite Gossett performance.
  • Gossett's Oscar competitors are considered, with particular admiration for James Mason in The Verdict and doubt about choosing against him.
  • A defense argues Foley could have become cartoonish but Gossett's intensity and glimpses of heart prevent that, including his reaction to Mayo helping Seeger.
  • A hot take defends Lynette as a straight shooter whose motives are understandable despite her conduct.
  • Gere is called the worst movie kisser for swallowing faces and gripping jaws; a dissent sees unusually convincing desire instead.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Mayo’s DOR punishment and breakdown; TJ’s bar encounter

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:25Read transcript
  • Foley's first inspection is nominated for its insulting exchanges, tattoo reaction and immediate establishment of the character.
  • The first obstacle course is nominated, contrasting Mayo's selfish excellence with Seeger's struggle and room to improve.
  • Mayo and Paula meeting is nominated for immediate chemistry despite the dated ethnic language.
  • The bar fight is nominated for the payoff when an aggressive local ignores Mayo's reluctance and is beaten; the trope of hostility to servicemen is questioned and partly defended through post-Vietnam context.
  • Caruso's near-drowning and Foley's rescue are nominated, with attention to Caruso's youthful appearance.
  • Foley demanding Mayo's resignation and the ensuing punishment culminating in I got nowhere else to go is the favored scene, receiving explicit agreement.
  • Paula trying to make Mayo jealous at the bar is a second-favorite scene, especially the use of Tunnel of Love; the apparent long separation conflicts with the few days actually elapsed.
  • The second obstacle course is nominated for Mayo sacrificing a record to help Seeger, completing his shift from selfish standout to teammate.
  • Worley's altitude-chamber panic is praised as part of convincing training sequences that invite viewers to imagine enduring the tests.
  • Mayo and Paula confronting Lynette while searching for Sid is praised as powerful rather than comfortably rewatchable; Sid swallowing the ring is similarly intense and alarming.
  • Mayo fighting Foley in the hangar is enjoyed as a sudden martial-arts-film detour, while the lack of military oversight is questioned.
  • The assignment ceremony and Mayo's farewell to Foley are praised as an Oscar-worthy sequence, especially Foley's restrained reaction.
  • The factory rescue ending is praised, while Lynette's cheerful reaction remains uncomfortable after her role in Sid's fate.
  • Final scene choices favor the long-weekend DOR punishment with agreement, while another choice is the Tunnel of Love bar encounter for its depiction of formerly intimate people reconnecting.
  • The sex scene is praised as unusually beautiful and convincing; reported edits to avoid an X rating and Winger's dissatisfaction are noted.

What’s Aged the Best?

Paula and Lynette; smoking to Benatar; Caruso; DOR; obstacle courses; Puget Debs; submersion training; haircuts; credits; ending; Grace Zabriskie

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:42Read transcript
  • Paula and Lynette smoking, dressing for the weekend and listening to Pat Benatar are aged-best choices; the setting's rural presentation is debated as a frontier-like Navy town.
  • Paula and Lynette are aged-best character choices; Lynette's shack with carefully kept plants is praised, while her dated haircut is deferred to aged-worst.
  • Caruso's appearance with a crew cut is an aged-best choice.
  • DOR as a reusable life concept and obstacle-course scenes are aged-best choices.
  • Foley's warning about the Puget Debs is an aged-best choice, with the term explained as sarcastic debutantes.
  • Hair-shaving scenes are an aged-best choice, compared with Stripes and Full Metal Jacket.
  • Sid swallowing the ring and Treat Me Right are recalled as enduring details; politically incorrect marching songs are considered both aged-best and aged-worst.
  • Opening and closing credits and the factory rescue ending are aged-best choices.
  • Grace Zabriskie's mother is praised; the silent stepfather is read as resenting reminders of his wife's earlier pilot relationship.
  • Water-submersion training is praised as unusual film material, although the category is qualified as scenes rarely seen now rather than something literally aging well.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Sid’s compressed late arc (tentative)

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:51Read transcript
  • No weak performance or boring section is identified; even a pee break is difficult, though repeated obstacle courses might be skippable for some viewers.
  • The abruptness of Sid's late arc is proposed as a possible weak link after the initial inability to name one.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Opening; Gossett double; Lynette’s hair and rejection; Simpson’s song judgment; side business; teenage flirting; pregnancy strategy

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:43Read transcript
  • The opening scene's editing, visible Gossett fight double and Lynette's haircut are aged-worst choices.
  • Don Simpson reportedly wanted Up Where We Belong removed in favor of On the Wings of Love, a judgment considered badly wrong after the song's success.
  • Lynette rejecting Sid is considered brutally painful; the compressed sequence from pregnancy worry to panic, proposal, rejection and suicide suggests missing development, though family pressure and his brother's death provide context.
  • The abruptness of Sid's late arc is proposed as a possible weak link after the initial inability to name one.
  • An earlier script reportedly gave Mayo's father a larger role and a visit during training, prompting a hypothetical appearance at graduation.
  • Byron Mayo is jokingly proposed as an addition to the Wayne Jenkins impression category, built around the disturbing opening encounter.
  • Mayo's side-business margins are questioned as too small for the risk, and Paula's teenage sister openly flirting at dinner is considered especially dated.
  • Trying to secure a future through pregnancy with a pilot is criticized as an implausible life strategy, while Lynette's desire to escape to Hawaii is acknowledged.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:53Read transcript
  • Robert Loggia is the emphatic heat-check winner for his opening minutes.
  • Paula’s father is a heat-check alternative.
  • The hostile factory worker Bunny is a heat-check alternative.
  • Seeger is a heat-check alternative, with a question about whether the part is too large.
  • Victor French as the stepfather is a heat-check alternative.
  • Grace Zabriskie as the mother is a heat-check alternative.

Apex Mountain

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:14:47Read transcript
  • Gere is affirmed for Apex through American Gigolo and this huge success.
  • Winger’s Apex is assigned to Terms of Endearment.
  • David Keith is affirmed for Apex here.
  • Louis Gossett Jr. is affirmed for Apex here.
  • Military-training movies prompt a dispute between Private Benjamin and Full Metal Jacket, ending with agreement on Full Metal Jacket rather than this film.
  • Puget Sound is unequivocally affirmed for Apex.
  • The Triumph Bonneville is proposed for Apex as a particularly impressive movie motorcycle, but other motorcycle peaks are offered without a settled affirmative result.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Wayne Jenkins as Sid; Byron Mayo impression

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:56Read transcript
  • Wayne Jenkins as Sid is proposed and performed, alongside anticipation of a future Byron Mayo impression; the impression's Jet Li reference is corrected to Chuck Norris as a safer period fit.

Just One Oscar

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:44Read transcript
  • Winger is the first Just One Oscar choice.
  • Gere is the competing Just One Oscar choice because he holds the film together.
  • Another choice agrees with Winger; supporting eligibility is debated but rejected because of the role’s scale.

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

Sit, adjust, pray, attack; love lifts you up where you belong

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:30:31Read transcript
  • Sit, adjust, pray, attack is a life-lesson choice from the mess-hall routine; love lifts you up where you belong is another, followed by a joking make-room-for-dad alternative.