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Annapolis
EMAILPRINTBuena Vista Pictures

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 25 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: David Collard
Directed by: Justin Lin
Release Date:
Theatrical: January 27, 2006
DVD: June 27, 2006
Running Time: 108 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some violence, sexual content and language
Starring James Franco, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, Donnie Wahlberg, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Roger Fan, Wilmer Calderon, and McCaleb Burnett
When he won a coveted admission spot to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, local kid Jake Huard (Franco) thought all his dreams had come true -- but his battle to become the man he wants to be is only just beginning. From critically acclaimed indie director Justin Lim comes this exhilarating comeback story of a courageous young sailor who discovers that some opportunities are worth fighting for. (Touchstone Pictures)
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Directing Annapolis is Justin Lin, whose previous feature was the irresponsible high-school comedy thriller "Better Luck Tomorrow." This second movie is more his speed.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling
Compellingly reserved and inscrutable at the start, Franco starts to lose us by the second hour, when his character's still not showing up for roll call on time, and isn't charismatic enough to bring us over to his side.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Any resemblance (except qualitatively) to "An Officer and A Gentleman" is strictly unaccidental.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
The result is two competing films, one about a failure's struggle to succeed in the Brigade Championships, the academy's boxing tournament, and the other about a quitter redeemed by military discipline. In the hands of director Justin Lin, the two story lines don't altogether merge.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
Packing in enough cliches for a dozen movies, this drama about a sensitive young man trying to achieve his dreams via the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis will best be enjoyed by the generation unfamiliar with "An Officer and a Gentlemen," "Top Gun" and any preceding boxing movies.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The underdog story doesn't miss a cliche, even though it never figures out whether it's a boxing picture or a military drama.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
A hopeless if harmless boxing picture whose principals just happen to wear uniforms outside the ring, Annapolis is set in a U.S. Naval Academy where no one ever seems to attend class.
Read Full Review >Variety Brian Lowry
James Franco and Tyrese Gibson scowl and strut and should make the hearts of teenage girls all atwitter, and that's about the only audience that won't see most of the punches telegraphed well in advance.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A formulaic, predictable and yet reasonably likable picture.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
It wasn't shot in Annapolis and doesn't have an original thought in its head. Other than that, Annapolis is a fine film.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Like so many disappointing movies, it's peopled by performers who do their damnedest to make the whole thing work.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
This isn't as much a movie as it is a recipe for a cinematic casserole in which the ingredients are clichés and rip-offs.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Staff (Not credited)
The best things about this numbingly predictable service-academy drama are its talented leading men.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
At a time when movies, even from Hollywood, are finally turning their eyes to conflicts abroad, Annapolis seems conspicuously myopic and reactionary in its denial of the world outside campus, though a movie this formulaic wouldn't pass muster during peacetime, either.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ben Kenigsberg
Often laughably overwrought rehash of "An Officer and a Gentleman," ekes out enough of a subtext on competition to qualify as a non-fiasco.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
May be a good showcase for James Franco, who's in every scene, but it's a disappointing choice for director Justin Lin.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Robert Abele
Franco is a refreshingly offbeat screen presence and in lighter moments boasts an appealing smile. He may be someone to watch, but too bad there's little room for emotional spontaneity - acting, in other words - in a rote Hollywood drill such as this.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly James C. Taylor
Annapolis succeeds only in the difficult mission of making charismatic actors like James Franco and Tyrese Gibson seem bland and surprisingly unsexy.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It is the anti-Sundance film, an exhausted wheeze of bankrupt cliches and cardboard characters, the kind of film that has no visible reason for existing, except that everybody got paid.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
The Navy will no doubt like what it sees, yet a project such as this should impart some sense of the times we live in.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
A record number of movie cliches are strung together for the otherwise forgettable boot-camp drama Annapolis.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Guaranteed neither to offend nor delight.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
The only impressive thing about it is the monotony and thoroughness with which it replicates cliches from older, better movies and hammers them into pop alloy to an up-with-me beat beat beat of its musical score.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Annapolis has enough material for an exciting trailer. But that's all the movie really is: a trailer tricked out with protracted boxing sequences and an undernourished romantic subplot that culminates in a single tepid kiss.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
If Annapolis is not the worst movie to date of this still-young year, it is certainly the most hackneyed, as well as the most depressing.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 3.8 (out of 10) based on 25 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Zack L. gave it a4:
This movie is utterly pathetic. The direction isn't bad, but everything else is. The dialogue and screenplay are horrible and the characters all seem dull and charmless. Annapolis tries too hard to be too many things, and fails miserably.
Marine Corps gave it a6:
Good boxing flick.
Sarah gave it a10:
i thought it was ana excelent movie, there was no unnessassery sex scene.
[Anonymous] gave it a9:
A must see for anyone preparing for lifes challenges. Jordana Brewster plays a perfect girfriend and is a rising star.
Stephanie gave it a1:
I'm giving this movie a 1 for one reason: Muscles. This movies seems awkwardly geared towards women. I had high hopes for a movie about the prestigious U.S. Naval Academy. I was sorely let down. However, if you're a woman who wants to see some nice abs, by all means, rent this movie. Men? Boxing in this movie was mediocre at best.
Dave R. gave it a5:
This is a very average movie. Not great but not terrible. It does borrow things from other movies, but yet it still has its own good moments. It is worth a $3.50 rental for the hour and a half of entertainment. I am glad that I didn't put down $20 + to see this movie in the theatre.
Aaron gave it a0:
Susan not as bad as everyone is saying? You are correct. It's even worse than that. Awful.
