“Up Where We Belong” Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warmes https://images.app.goo.gl/dBtaBu7s37WpMZ2F6

Louis Gossett Jr. is an excellent actor who has been acting in films for over fifty years. His big breakout role was as Sgt Emil Foley in An Officer and a Gentleman. He was a drill Sergeant in charge of basic training. As most drill sergeants are, he is a bit overbearing. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1982 for his role. Richard Gere was the real star of the film and this movie was one of the first that helped launch his career.

Zach Mayo (Richard Gere) is a loner who has issues with authority. His Naval Officer father Byron Mayo (Robert Loggia) is a bit of a lady’s man. Instead of being the father he should be. His son decides to go into the Navy, in Officer Candidate School, despite what he’s seen of the kind of father he has had. When he gets to basic training he gets on the bad side of the drill sergeant Sgt Emil Foley (Louis Gossett Jr. It’s his job to find the weaknesses of the Officer Candidates. He is good at his job and gets on the nerves of Gere and others in the film.

Richard Gere, and David Kieth, play two officers in the training program who get into relationships with Debra Winger and Lisa Blount during the time of their basic training.  During these weeks the four have their ups and downs as couples. During the training, things don’t go as planned. Things start to go bad because of ulterior motives one of the women has. This causes a rift in the four and tragedy occurs. It’s a sad moment in the film.

I’ve seen a lot of films about basic training or military service and this one was a forerunner of a lot of the ones I’ve seen that have come out after it. This came out in 1982, a great year for film.  but it didn’t go to the next level films like Full Metal Jacket went to. Gossett Jr. was terrific in the role and as one dealt with this type of character when I was young he was pretty convincing in the role. Not as convincing as R Lee Ermy though who did it much better.

This film is more about the romantic angles and getting respect from his superior by the Gere character. His relationship with Winger’s character was sweet and countered what he saw from his father who was a womanizer. He needed that in his life to be able to face the demon which was the drill Sergeant played by Gossett Jr. He saw his father in this character. He used his pent-up anger and frustration and took it out on this authority figure. These two aspects of the story were the crux of what made this film work so well.

Richard Gerr has made a career of being a heartthrob. His salt-and-pepper hair and good looks have done him well during most of his career. With American Gigolo and An Officer and a Gentleman he was still trying to find his identity as an actor. He became this character and made me care about the journey he was on to be a better man than his father. His ability to let his guard down to some extent to be loved is another side of the character and Gerr as an actor we’ve come to love about him in years since. Pretty Woman is a prime example of him coming full circle as an actor.

Louis Gossett Jr is usually a character actor in films like this one or television mini-series like Roots. He usually fits in nicely with a good ensemble cast. Sometimes he does great work in a two-hander like Enemy Mine and other times he plays a villain or authority figure in things in his career. Whatever role he takes he fits in nicely. That’s what happened with An Officer and a Gentleman he fit in so well he won an Academy Award. That’s the kind of great character actor he was.

An Officer and a Gentleman is a character study of a man who has father issues, and authority problems. Finding his love and forgiveness was the key for Gere’s character to get over his difficulties with these issues. Louis Gossett Jr as the drill sergeant was the perfect foil for him while Debra Winger was the perfect love interest. Taylor Hackford, most known for being Helen Mirren’s husband these days, captured the right feel and tone for this story and character.  This was a film that set hearts aflutter back in 1982 but today it’s being remembered as a great character performance from one of the best character actors of his generation Louis Gossett Jr. 

By Dan Skip Allen