10 Films That Prove Disability Doesn't Hold You Back

9. Men Of Honor (2000)

Men of Honor is the true story of Carl Brashear, the first African American Navy Diver, and it deals a double-blow to both disability and racist attitudes - the latter taking the forefront in terms of narrative structure. Cuba Gooding Jr. has always been a likeable actor, and he continues in the same vein in Men of Honor. Robert De Niro stars alongside as Leslie Sunday, Brashear's diving trainer, who is determined to see the protagonist fall flat on his face and out of the Navy. The tale is one of racial intolerance and the growing relationship between these two adversaries. De Niro is relentless as Sunday and tireless in his pursuit of Brashear's career. He is hateful and ignorant, with a chip the size of Texas on his shoulder. However their previously tense relationship is pieced together and solidified following an accident aboard a ship that cost Brashear his leg. Despite loss of limb, he continues to fight for his dream of a career in the Navy - culminating in him stepping inside a 290lb diving suit and walking ten steps with an artificial leg. The result is a grandiose finale of a flawed film, emphasising the will to succeed overcoming the limitations of the human body. Men of Honor may not have been as thrilling or centred on the issue as much as other films on this list, but the time it spends on disability is as poignant as you will see. It may be cheesy but the story is a testament to the physically-disabled out there willing to do well; no matter the affliction.