An Office and a Gentleman

An Officer and  Gentleman, 1982
An Officer and a Gentleman (Special Collector's Edition)



I have to admit, I'm really excited to watch this movie and my excitement is based purely on the fact that Richard Gere made the movies in the 1980s when he could do no wrong. And I'm not even a little embarrassed to admit that.

After having watched the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)

I knew what this movie would be when I started watching it, and I loved every bit of it. I sat down to watch the movie after a long day at the store with my Grandparents and it was a perfect way to unwind. Which is sometimes all you really want and need from a movie. And actually to keep my hands busy, I worked on making ornaments for Christmas while watching the movie. I have a tendency at times to feel antsy during movies.

I did find out a couple of interesting things about the movie though, for instance R. Lee Ermey was asked to coach Louis Gossett Jr. for his role as a Drill Instructor. Five years later Ermey would earn his role as a tough as nails Drill Sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. Which if given the opportunity, why wouldn't you offer the role of a Drill Sergeant to someone served in the US Marine Corps for eleven years.

What I hadn't realized was that it was a tradition for newly commissioned officers to give a silver dollar to the person who gives them their first salute. I at least had enough sense to realize that it was a big deal to receive your first salute as on officer. Apparently on part of the Drill Instructor, it is tradition to place the silver dollar in their right pocket for their most memorable students.

Final thoughts: It's the small things that really made the movie for me. For instance learning later that there is in fact a silver dollar tradition for officers at their graduation, I never would have known something like that otherwise.

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