ACT OF VALOR

Act of Valor (2012)
Grade: B-
PREMISE: Active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs star in a film about a squad of the elite warriors who look to save an imprisoned CIA operative in Costa Rica, and, in the process, learn more about a drug/crime cartel that has hideouts across the world and may be planning to move high explosives into the United States.

RATED R for strong, bloody war violence, language, and a scene of torture

Act of Valor both is and is not a movie as we know movies. Starring, as everyone should know by now, actual, serving U.S. Navy SEALs, it is able to strike a chord almost no other movie can claim to strike, that the people we’re watching are not actors, that what is happening onscreen is what they do for a living. Given that fact, plus the documentary feel of the rapid editing, long stretches of near-total silence, moments of dizzying confusion, and the relevance of the material (involving foreign insurgents, suicide bombers, and political prisoners) Act of Valor employs a kind of believable thrust that is rare in movies today.

That approach backfires a little—though it undoubtedly takes someone as cynical and heart-hearted as me to notice—when we eventually remember that it is not a documentary, so, even when some of the characters “die”, and are buried with honors, we can rest easy knowing that person is not dead-they are alive and well-while thousands of real, actual people are dying and their real friends and families are grieving.

Of course, the movie meant as a memorial to those courageous people, and it is an effective one: more than once during AOV did I find myself thinking “no way in hell would I ever go in there (or do that); thank God there's somebody who's willing..."

Plot: When a CIA operative (Roselyn Sanchez) working as a doctor in South America while trying to pick up information on terrorist/drug smuggler Christo (Alex Veadov) is imprisoned by armed thugs, a particular squad of Navy SEALs (whose actual names are unavailable in the film’s credits, or online, for security reasons) rushes into action. Leaving behind beloved, adoring families, they tangle with scores of armed baddies in order to save the operative, suffering injuries in the process, and learning that Christo is only the money of the cartel—the brain, heart, and point man is a Ukranian Muslim convert, Shabal (Jason Cottle). Worse, Shabal is already arranging for people armed with deadly, explosive vests, that can fool even electronic metal detectors, to sneak into the United States through Mexico, where he plans to make 9/11 seem like a walk in the park. Using the most up-to-date, sophisticated intelligence technology, the SEALs scramble to find Shabal and his bombers and stop them from entering the United States, at all costs.

What Works?
Though some of the family-time scenes before the troops deploy can be a little treacly, it's impossible to ignore the real ramifications of men and women leaving their families behind to do the most dangerous work on earth, and, likewise, for their families to let them go, and to try to grasp what it might be like if they don’t come back. The movie makes an effort to give us that heartfelt connection, and it’s able to, especially in the final scenes—Act of Valor has one of the most emotionally-powerful endings I’ve ever seen.

But that’s the boring stuff. When it comes to my instant reaction to Act of Valor, I am for some reason reminded of the basic word-of-mouth response to 1999’s cheerleading flick Bring It On: “the movie’s kinda dumb, but the girls are really hot”—in the case of AOV, it’s: “the plot and dialogue are kinda lame, but the action is amazing.” And it really is. AOV contains three electrifying, can't-look-away action sequences that rank up there with the best in the history of war movies, punctuated, of course, by the knowledge that the men onscreen really do these things, use these weapons, work these tactics, and undertake these missions; it’s refreshing to be able to look at a movie where the good guys have uncanny accuracy with firearms-and get backup at just the right crucial moments-and have an excuse-(as in, “hey, those guys train for this stuff; they really can shoot that well!”).

The SEALs’ acting is, well, I’ll get to that, but I will say this: the performance in the movie that I’ll remember was that of Jason Cottle as Shabal. Scary-eyed, thick-bearded, and deadly serious, it’s horrifying to see him look over weapons, plot to kill as many people as possible with one bomb, and “assuage the fears” of those who will be wearing said bombs (“What are you upset about? You’ll be with your husband in heaven!”).

What Doesn’t Work?
Well, that’s easy—most of the dialogue sucks. Okay, so, I knew it was supposed to be that way going in, but, still, most of the Americans’ lines (how’s that for irony in an American-made film about American heroes?) clang off the ear. Whether a little schmaltzy (“I want to look into your eyes when our first child is born”), or outright cheesy (“the only thing better than this is being a dad!”), the dialogue does make it hard to hold back the sniggers at times. I mean, do Navy SEALs, during an official, military briefing, really say things like “there’s a fairly large group of armed assholes”, or “sup bro?” And, well, okay, I don’t know how it would go down in real life if this happened, but there’s a bizarre moment where a SEAL is hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) that doesn’t explode; a buddy helps him up and then stands there holding the rocket, going: “Man, good thing that was a dud. Look at it.” The whole time, I was thinking: “don’t just stand there, throw the f---ing thing away!”

I’ve heard further criticism of the film, that it's unrealistic to paint all Navy SEALs as sensitive family men, but I won’t go there. Basically, with Act of Valor, you get what you paid for: heroic American guys with families who go off to stop bad guys from hurting innocent people, sometimes giving their lives in the process. During the final frames, when two columns of names pass up the screen to commemorate the SEALs who’ve been in combat lost since 9/11, it’s a moment to stun you into silence. It’s a lot of names.

Content:
Obviously, there’s good morals about heroism, sacrifice, friendship, courage, love, etc…but the violence is bloody, the language is coarse, the bad guys are fanatical, irredeemable bad guys (sounds like real life, huh?) and there is a nasty glimpse of what sometimes happens to people taken prisoner by those who have nothing to lose.

Bottom Line (I promise): Act of Valor may not be the most legitimately-acted movie you’ve ever seen, and it does smack of propaganda, but it will hit you in the gut with furiously-intense action scenes, and in the heart with the realization that families are broken every day because people like these characters lay down the ultimate sacrifice.

Act of Valor (2012)
Directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh
Written by Kurt Johnstad
Rated R for bloody war violence, language, and a scene of torture
Length: 110 minutes