Act of Valor

Director: Mike McCoy, Scott Waugh
Starring: Roselyn Sanchez, Emilio Rivera, Nestor Serrano
Time Out rating:
Japanese title: Navy Seals

This visceral warfare action thriller cleaned up at the US box office, which is a tad worrying given that it is essentially an army recruitment film. What separates Act of Valor from the myriad of Rambo-style combat movies is that its cast are active US elite Navy Seals. Yes, real-life soldiers, acting. But while the Seals’ involvement allows directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh to dress their film in a cloak of authenticity, at what cost, when the performances off the battlefield are so leaden?

In an attempt to weave a storyline around the Seals’ heroics, writer Kurt Johnstad has cooked up a predictably shallow scenario involving Mexican drug traffickers and a terrorist plot to blow up Americans. The combat sequences, though, are stunningly executed, unbelievably realistic and extraordinarily tense – which makes you wonder why they didn’t just drop the drama crap and shoot it as an informational real-time documentary. Instead, Act of Valor reeks of military-sanctioned exploitation drama aimed solely at the Call of Duty set.

Act of Valor opens nationwide on June 22