Starring: A bunch of real-life Navy SEALs, Roselyn Sanchez, Alex Veadov
Directed by: Mike “Mouse†McCoy (debut) and Scott Waugh (debut)
Written by: Kurt Johnstad (“300â€)
There’s no doubt that Navy SEALs are the badasses’ badass. These are the guys that snipered Somali pirates from the stern of a battleship while laughing in the face of the roiling sea. These are the guys that choppered into Pakistan, busted into a quiet neighborhood and shot Osama bin Laden in the face and still had time to blow up their own broken-down helicopter on the way out. SEALs are the stuff of legend – a finely honed fighting force meant to infiltrate, wreck shop, and get the hell out.
Navy SEALs, however, are not actors.
“Act of Valor†cares not for such details, preferring the verisimilitude of having real, active-duty Navy SEALs play the fictional(?) Navy SEAL characters. As you can probably guess, none of them are any good. One wonders if the Screen Actors Guild filed a grievance against the producers since clearly at least half a dozen beefy D-list actors missed out on work due to this casting decision. At any rate, the paper-thin plot follows the elite SEAL Team 7 and their globe-spanning efforts to rescue a kidnapped CIA agent (Roselyn Sanchez) and neutralize an imminent terrorist attack, all while amassing as many head-shot kills as possible.
Directors Mike “Mouse†McCoy and Scott Waugh explain in a preamble to the film that the decision to use actual SEALs (or “operators†who have been “downrange†as the obtuse military jargon identifies them) was an artistic one, that they felt they couldn’t possibly tell this story without using authentic SEALs, complete with real guns firing real bullets. The patriotic among us may see this as honoring the sacrifice of our troops and their loved ones by honestly portraying the peril they face on duty. The cynics among us may see this as a gimmick used by a crummy B-movie to skirt the direct-to-DVD ghetto and score a lucrative theatrical release wherein you can milk the aforementioned patriots by playing to their sympathies. Unfortunately, the cynics would be right.
The premise of the whole project is troubling. Inserting real SEALs into a fictional story (touted as being “based on real acts of valor,†whatever that means) faxed straight from Chuck Norris’s 1980s production office only serves to cheapen the reputation of the SEALs onscreen, foregoing the reality of their difficult situation- balancing careers as elite soldiers with the demands of having a family – and instead sending them on an X-Box-ish series of missions to take down a scenery-chewing terrorist mastermind. “Act of Valor†doesn’t honor any heroes, it just tricks real ones into spending $10 on the same crappy movie they saw on a Saturday afternoon 25 years ago.
Horrible review written by someone who never served in the military. He has no clue what these men go through or what our country has gone through. If we had a draft this douchebag Jerrod would be the first pussy to go to Mexico/canada. Acts of Valor you need to look up every Medal Of Honor recipient and read the summary of how they were awarded the highest honor. Maybe these lame retards who get paid to critique movies can do a little thing called research prior to watching a movie. Last time I checked you were to busy wondering why your ex gf liked twilight movies so much and you liked bridesmaids so much. Seems kinda gay when a guy thinks a girl movie can win an award but grades a movie that promotes the very FREEDOM you get to use. A HORRIBLE REVIEW BY A HORRIBLE REVIEWER WHO HAS NO CLUE. Get a real job and join the military that will make you a real man. Did you sign up for selective service? Probably not. Kinda sad we have people like this who bash their gorgeous ex-gf over a movie yet tools like this still bave jobs. But the minute someone comments negatively about him he cries and writes an email. What a 200% douchebag plus sideburns are for chesters and molesters. Get a clue and get a new job