Act of Valor: Catch 22

The major flaw of Act of Valor is also billed as its greatest strength. The films protagonists are portrayed by active duty Navy Seals. This translates to some amazingly choreographed, ultra realistic action sequences; followed by some extremely flat and poorly executed scenes of forced exposition and flawed dialogue. But, despite it’s obvious script flaws, Act of Valor is a surprisingly entertaining and semi-emotional journey. It may have helped that throughout the film I was sitting next to a retired ex-marine, but I left Act of Valor feeling a tinge of National Pride.

Act of Valor centers around a team of Navy Seals executing a mission in Costa Rica to rescue a woman captured by militants. After rescuing the woman, the Seals discover that the woman was kidnapped because she has vital information about a terrorist plot to attack several cities in the United States. The Seal team is dispatched to ultimately stop the terrorist attack from happening.

Act of Valor’s flat characters came as a surprise. The screenwriter is Kurt Jognstad; the very scribe responsible for penning the uber violent, uniquely stylized, smash hit 300. While Mr. Jognstad totally nailed the action sequences, someone should have reminded him in pre-production that he was writing for soldiers, and not actors.

Most of the dialogue was unnecessary. In many instances a two to four minute scene of “sitting around a table style” exposition would describe in detail what was about to happen, and then it would happen, almost precisely as stated. If you are going to bother to tell us what the plan is, then do us the courtesy of not having the plan go almost exactly as explained with far to few diversions from the status quo.

No twists.

Another major problem: There was no conflict between the chief protagonists. All of the Navy Seals had wonderful family lives, great children, and got along completely. In combat they were all incredibly brave, unselfish, and impeccably efficient.

No flaws.

The only character with whom we have any empathy is the Russian drug smuggler Christo (Alex Veadov – veteran of over ten first person shooter military combat video games) Christo has a family, and he struggles with turning on his twisted principles and friends to protect them. The other villain, terrorist leader Karimov (Dimiter Marinov) is so evil and unjustified he would feel more at home in a James Bond film.

I am a screenwriter adamantly devoted to the craft of the screenplay, so why did I enjoy this flawed film? Because it was freaking badass! Usually when watching a military action flick, the explosions are excessive, there’s a seemingly endless supply of ammunition fired off all willy-nilly in every direction, and the combat is just a series of tertiary protagonist’s getting picked off one by one. The refreshing thing about Act of Valor is that each moment of action feels relevant and authentic.

A majority of the film is shot in Point of View perspective, which although gimmicky, created a sense of being dropped into the action. With every corner the camera rushes around, the audience waits in anticipation for an AK-47 wielding terrorist to be lurking.

Act of Valor isn’t going to win any awards. However, apart from five to ten painfully uneventful scenes of exposition, the film is a fast paced realistic action thriller. Some reviewers have called the film military propaganda. Well, consider me Stockholm Syndrome-d. Yeah, there are a lot of reasons to avoid war. But, I was definitely reminded that regardless of political beliefs, there are men and women risking their lives to ensure our safety from real threats every day. I don’t care if these guys can deliver their dialogue effectively, I’m just thankful I can nosh popcorn, be entertained, and sleep soundly at night knowing they’re out there keeping me safe.