By Mike Wilmington Wilmington@moviecitynews.com
Wilmington on Movies: Act of Valor
ACT OF VALOR (Two Stars)
U. S.: Mike McCoy & Scott Waugh, 2012
With its cast of real-life Navy Seals playing characters based on themselves, in a script partly drawn from real life, in scenes that the Seals actors helped design and choreograph, Act of Valor should really be the last word in Seals combat realism. And that’s something that American audiences should be ready for — especially in the aftermath of the inspiring real-life Seals trackdown and termination of the killer of 9/11, Osama Bin Laden.
Instead, it feels like just another war picture — with more exciting and authentic-looking action than usual maybe, but with the same old clichés, the same old villains, the same old camaraderie, the same old conventional dramatic stuff and the same old flag-draped sentimentality and recruiting-poster themes. There are exotic villains named Christo (Alex Veadov) and Abu Shabal (Jason Coffee) and shoot-‘em-ups in Costa Rica and terrorist battles in Mexico. There’s a would-be heart-tearing Pacific Ocean beach goodbye. (Milius would have done it better.) And though it probably works for much of its intended audience, it’s a movie that doesn’t inhabit the same universe as Platoon or The Hurt Locker or Apocalypse Now, not to mention the honestly and affectingly gung ho war movie classics of John Ford, Howard Hawks or William Wellman back in WW2 (and I)..
Nor does the movie seem to be making good use of its unusual cast: a group of actual Navy Seals still on active duty, most of whom mostly use their own first names (though not usually their last), presumably to preserve their safety and security. Except for the already justly praised (by other critics) Van O, who does a great interrogation, they don’t act at the same levels at which they wage war — though that’s probably because they’re not responsible for the writing or direction.
The movie was written by Kurt Johnstad (300) and directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh (who sign themselves The Bandido Brothers and who appear at the beginning of the movie, explaining that their Seals are real). All three have backgrounds in stuntwork, and maybe that’s why the stunts here seem so much more authentic than the emotions. In any case , the movie reportedly started as a documentary (with McCoy and Waugh embedded with the Seals) and later became a recruiting film, and finally emerged as what it is now: a major release feature, packed with major stereotypes and all-pro action.
I think McCoy and Waugh would have been wiser to keep it a documentary, or even a recruiting movie. Of course, Act of Valor will gross more in its current incarnation. But grosses aren’t everything.
Too bad. But I would like to pay tribute to some of the Act of Valor Seals and castmates that I was able to find combing through the various cast lists, mainly Variety‘s: Dave, Lt. Rorke, Ray, Ajay, Mikey, Sonny and Weimy. Semper fi, guys. Really.
Semper fi would be appropriate for Marines. For SEALs, their warcry, “Hooyah!” or one of their slogans, “Pays to be a winner!” would be a better choice.