Many moons ago in a previous incarnation I worked for the gull gray and white organization and actually built a couple flight simulators that incorporated carrier landing simulation. The information you have on the ball is correct. The frenel lens optical landing system (FLOLS) has been USN standard equipment for a long time, though I believe some new laser guided, atomic powered Buck Rogers stuff is in the offing.
The landing is controlled by the Landing Signal Officer , a pilot of the air wing, who has radio contact with the aircraft and gives a kind of running commentary that is somewhat like a PAR or GCA approach. If you look at the F-14s in the movie you may be able to see the angle of attack lights in the nose gear door. This gives the LSO the aircraft's attitude. There is also an angle of attack indexer in the cockpit in the pilot's line of sight, which makes it much easier to fly the power approach Navy aviators use. The LSO grades each pass at the deck, whether the aircraft traps ("lands"), bolters (hits the deck but doesn't catch one of the cross-deck pendants) or takes a wave- off (aborts the approach). Each pass is graded as to how the pilot controls the aircraft, which wire he caught (if any), and several other factors. The best grade is "Okay 3 wire" for good control all the way down the approach, trap on the third of the cross deck pendants, a good safe smooth pass. The worst grade is "low in close, hit the spud locker", which means you ran into the back of the ship and that's all folks. The LSOs in the air wing standardize with each other, the functional wing and air force (Atlantic Fleet or Pacific Fleet) standardize and there is a Naval Aviation Training and Operational Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) manual that standardizes the whole Navy. The LSO school is, I believe, at NAS Pensacola, Florida