The military drama "Act of Valor" is a strange hybrid of authentic action and fake thrills — and the biggest disservice the filmmakers do to their subject is blurring the line to the point where the real stuff looks the most phony.
Directors Mike "Mouse" McCoy and Scott Waugh follow a Navy SEAL unit on missions in support of the War on Terror, tracing a radical Chechen terrorist’s plot to attack the United States. The mission goes from rescuing a captured CIA agent (Roselyn Sanchez) in Costa Rica to surveillance in Somalia to infiltrating illegal immigration tunnels on the Mexican border.
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‘Act of Valor’
Opens Friday, Feb. 24, at theaters everywhere; rated R for strong violence including some torture, and for language; 110 minutes.
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The SEALs in the film are portrayed by real-life active-duty Navy SEALs, and it’s part of the film’s conceit that their full names are never divulged (not even in the final credits). The SEALs bring authenticity to the military action onscreen, but reciting canned dialogue doesn’t come easy; scenes that are supposed to convey the camaraderie of warriors come off as deadpan as an old Jack Webb movie. And while McCoy and Waugh make brief nods to the horrors of war, most of the combat footage looks too much like the ultimate first-person-shooter video game.
"Act of Valor" works better as a document of American military prowess, or a Navy recruitment video, than as popcorn entertainment.
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