Starring: Alex Veadov, Roselyn Sanchez and Nestor Serrano
Directed By: Mike McCoy & Scott Waugh
Written By: Kurt Johnstad
Produced By: Mike McCoy & Scott Waugh
Distributor: Relativity Media
Rating: R
Running Time: 101 minutes
Website: actofvalor.com
Budget: $15 million (estimated)
Genre: Action / Adventure / Thriller
Release Date: February 24, 2012
Act of Valor is one of the most baffling experiments in filmmaking to hit mainstream theaters in recent memory. Under the pretense of capturing the most authentic depiction pf Navy SEALs ever committed to film, the producing/directing team of Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh made the unorthodox decision to cast real-life, active-duty Navy SEALs in a bombastic, cliché-ridden orgy of patriotism and violence. The result is a bizarre, erratic curiosity that plays like a History Channel reenactment of an Army recruitment video.
We meet our two interchangeable protagonists (real-life, anonymous Navy SEALs) in a cafe on the eve of shipping out. One of them has just learned he is going to be a father. The other one is also in the scene. Before long, this vanilla duo join up with their squadmates and their families for a beach-side barbecue full of awkward attempts to act casual in front of a camera. In the midst of this stilted revelry, the men all gather in a circle to drink beer and listen to their commanding officer give a dramatic speech about duty, brotherhood and locking up one’s emotions deep, deep inside.
The movie pits this generic team of all-American heroes against Middle America’s biggest fear: a worldwide network of Russians, Muslims, Mexicans, Asians and Jews, hell-bent on the complete destruction of American Freedom. Led by an Eastern European villain who looks like a drug lord from an episode of “Miami Vice,” this nightmarish cabal is on the verge of smuggling untraceable Weapons of Mass Destruction into the United States along its extremely vulnerable Southern border.
To thwart this diabolical conspiracy, the SEALs must race across the globe from mission to mission, showcasing every last bit of amazing hardware the military has to offer. The filmmakers were allowed unprecedented access to some of the Navy’s most impressive technology, and they exploit it for all it’s worth, showcasing nuclear submarines, swift boats deployed by helicopter, HALO jumps and a smorgasbord of heavy weapons. It’s military-industrial pornography at its finest, but anyone hoping for something more substantial will be sorely disappointed.
The most obvious problem with Act of Valor is that its cast of Navy SEALs can’t act. This challenge could have been easily overcome by 1) downplaying their dialogue and 2) focusing on crafting the best action sequences possible. Somehow, the filmmakers manage to botch both points. The script showcases the wooden line delivery of the SEALs with a bewildering mix of good ol’ boy cameraderie and overly-specific military jargon. There is also an over-reliance on excruciatingly-pretentious narration that manages to reference fatherhood, military duty, the American flag and 19th-century Shawnee leader Tecumseh.
More infuriating are the film’s action scenes. Considering the ambition was to depict modern-day combat in the most realistic way possible, it’s downright mystifying why the filmmakers abandon vérité-style documentary work in favor of a checklist of camera and editing tricks to create something as calculated as any Hollywood blockbuster. There are slow-motion explosions, blaring rock cues, computerized HUD-title cards and jarring first- and third-person camera angles that recreate the deeply uncomfortable experience of watching a friend play the latest installment of “Modern Warfare” on their Xbox.
Act of War was produced and directed by a pair of movie stuntmen with little filmmaking experience, written by the man responsible for the insistently-macho film adaptation of 300, and brought to life by military personnel with little charisma and no acting experience. It will be held in saintly regard by those who wish to test the limits of their patriotism, and no one else.
1.5 Stars (out of 5)
