Proud

A story about most interesting times told in a most uninteresting way.

The movie feels more like a political propaganda than anything else. Awfully primitive characters, boring lines full of tearful speeches and excessive use of voice-over just add to the effect. Characters are so simple and so wonderful, always smiling, clean and nice, so perfect in every way that it's almost a parody. There is hardly anything happening in the movie. No twists in the plot, no surprises. Characters are either good or bad, like in a child book. No room for dilemmas. Nothing to think about, no challenges for the viewer. Everything is obvious.

Racism is bad, patriotism is good - that's basically the entire movie. I'm not kidding, it's all.

It's as if the script was written by 12 years old idealistic American boy. It's not a movie, it's a commercial.

So, if you didn't know before that racism is bad and hate movies to make you think or give you hard problems to ponder about, then by all means watch "Proud".

In any other case stay away. It's a complete waste of time.

I watched this movie last night and was a bit disappointed. A lot of the "time facts" were off. At the beginning of the movie, the grandfather made a comment to this grandson and his friends about how they felt when 9-11 hit. This movie was supposed to be taking place in 1994. Also, one of the grandsons friends was wearing an Eagles Donovan McNabb jersey. He hadn't even been drafted as of yet. The story line was good but the facts and actuality of the time frame was so far off base that it made the movie seem cheesy. My boyfriend is an avid reader of WWII books and memorabilia. I rented this movie hoping that it would be good. The acting was so-so. The dog was cute. But the way that this movie was carried out made me glad that I only paid 4 dollars to rent it as opposed to the 50 it would have taken me to watch it in a theater. I hope that who ever reads this understands that I mean no discontent to those who fought the war but the facts and time frame should have been a little more closely monitored.

This is an independent feature telling the story of average men, caught performing heroic acts in a time of war. These men served their country, performed numerous duties to help a convoy succeed in its mission to bring supplies to England. Men had died during this trip across the Atlantic, not to mention getting caught in one of the worst storms in this century, dubbed "the storm of the century during wartime".

These men were supposed to have received commendations for their numerous acts of bravery. The Commander of the convoy, Alfred Lind, wrote those recommendations (ultimately found in naval archives), but they were never given. Why? This was the only ship in the Navy that had black sailors serving on it, which was sent into combat during World War II (the other 11,000 black sailors served in menial jobs). Those same men that served their country couldn't even buy a hot dog on the pier.

Those recommendations were written because the men deserved them. They were never awarded because it was during a time when the color of a their skin somehow disqualified them.

Our society still has a way to go. Hopefully this story helps pave the way for future generations to achieve color blindness.

Just saw 'Proud" on a tape last night and didn't know that there was an all black enlisted man crew on a U.S. Navy ship during WWII. Maybe the acting and direction left something to be desired, but the message came across loud and clear.

I enlisted in the Marines at the age of 17, right after WWII was over. In the 3 years I served, I never saw a black Marine. I understood there were some black Marines that served in service and supply units, but they did not go through boot camp with white Marines and were completely segregated from us.

On the Navy ships I boarded, the only black sailors I ever saw were messmen and stewards in the galley and they kept pretty much to themselves. In 1948, when the armed forces were desegregated, I still didn't notice any difference in the racial makeup of our outfit. At the time I didn't think anything of it, but in hindsight, it was an awful way to treat black Americans. I'm glad that era is over.

As with most who have commented on this movie, it just left me deflated. The story itself is what I was interested in, unfortunately it was told with bad acting, blandness, and a disjointed flow. After the first 15 minutes one gets a sense that the movie was put together in a hurry. The film also splices in some stock footage which appeared to be more of an attempt to flesh out budget constraints than to add significance to the historical nature of the film.

I was hoping to use this film as part of a history lesson, but with some of the flaws already mentioned, I would have lost a bit of credibility.

I would however, like to see this story re-made with the dignity it deserves.