 
Movie review: 'Act of Valor'
Posted on: 02/24/12
.jpg)
Real Navy SEALs star in the fictional film about a terrorist plot they must foil. Their combat scenes are impressive, but the military cast shows its shortcomings in the acting."Act of Valor" blurs the line between the real and the unreal something fierce. It uses active-duty Navy SEALs in a fictional story, but this intriguing hybrid is dramatically involving only when the shooting — with real bullets, naturally — gets underway.Given how hot, hot, hot SEALs have become after their role in the death of Osama bin Laden, the opportunity to see the genuine article in action rather than the likes of Demi Moore("G.I. Jane") or Bruce Willis ("Tears of the Sun") is to a certain extent irresistible. That was certainly the thinking of the Navy, which originally imagined the film as a kind of recruiting tool for the elite clandestine combat unit. Though the project eventually morphed into an action picture co-directed by Mike "Mouse" McCoy and Scott Waugh, it still has some of that promotional film feeling to it, plus a healthy dose of worshipful mythologizing. But, frankly, once you see the SEALs in action, you may feel that a certain amount of lionizing is in order. The directors and cinematographer Shane Hurlbut spent 50 days over two years shooting elaborate SEAL training exercises (hence the live ammunition), and these men are certainly impressive in combat situations. Identified by first names only (security is the watchword here), the members of the film's eight-man SEAL team exhibit palpable presence and calm self-confidence at all times. They communicate in combat using nifty hand signals and keep spoken language to a laconic minimum: When someone says "take it out," he is not referring to Chinese food. The split-second logistics of SEAL operations, not to mention the gear they have at their disposal, is also remarkable. Helicopters deposit boats in inaccessible rivers, miniature video drones fly over enemy encampments and a nuclear submarine surfaces out of nowhere to meet a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean. If members of Congress were only half as committed to effective cooperation, this would be a very different world. Impressive as all this is, it can't hide the fact that these total warriors can't really act, a situation that may not matter in combat but has to be characterized as a drawback in a motion picture. Yes, the SEALs have easygoing charisma to spare, but the intensely masculine comradeship that is their stock in trade goes only so far when dialogue needs to be recited. This becomes especially apparent when "Act of Valor" deals briefly with the SEALs' personal lives, focusing on the friendship of Lt. Cmdr. Rorke and Special Warfare Operator Chief Dave, known familiarly as Rorke and Dave. These two men, separated though they are by rank, are good buddies during downtime in San Diego, and Dave, already a father, loses no opportunity to gently tease Rorke about his impending fatherhood. How the SEALs, who apparently are home an average of just two months of the year, deal with their wives and families is potent ground, but "Act of Valor" is not really equipped to do more than lightly touch on the subject. The SEALs, who are, of course, only moonlighting as actors, have an excuse for their limitations; the professional filmmakers involved have less of one. While the action is always crisp and to the point (co-director Waugh and Michael Tronick are the editors) the rest of the storytelling and the acting that goes along with it are pro forma at best. Though "Act of Valor" is said to be based on real SEAL situations, the script by Kurt Johnstad ("300") couldn't be more generic as it unearths a global plot that threatens to make, you guessed it, "9/11 look like a walk in the park." The SEALs get involved when CIA agent Morales (Roselyn Sanchez) gets kidnapped by confederates of drug dealer Cristo (Alex Veadov). Her exciting rescue is only the start for the team, who discover that the drug dealer has a connection to the dread Abdul Shabal (Jason Cottle), a terrorist so ruthless and menacing he intimidates other evildoers. As the SEALs fly around the world putting out fires before finally tussling with that terrifying terrorist, not to mention a sizable contingent from Mexico's drug cartels, ruminations on movie reality versus real reality are inevitable. It's fascinating to note how much these nominally real combat operations look like classic movie operations, or, conversely, how well the movies have been able to mimic combat reality. The genuine SEAL sharpshooter who never misses looks and acts exactly like the movie snipers we've all seen. Do these actual SEALs, who likely went to the movies before they went to war, feel like they are living in a 24/7 motion picture when they are in combat? Watching the real and unreal play off each other like different facets of an Escher print makes one ponder questions of illusion and reality in a way Demi Moore and Bruce Willis never did. COMMENTS
Be the first to post a comment! Post A Comment:
|
|
.gif)
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg)
