Act of Valor

One of those instances where a conceit gets in the way of itself – I’m not really sure what the utilisation of actual SEALs as actors in this adds in terms of verisimilitude; it would be one thing if the film was either a genuine documentary, or a more restrained docudrama, but Waugh and McCoy have crafted this as an action pic through and through, which requires its performers to actually deliver dialogue with conviction, which most of the performers are unable to do. In terms of action, its two set pieces are technically well crafted and quite exciting, when staying away from the awkward first person shooter point of view – its propagandistic tendencies are largely forgivable, given the circumstances under which it was initially filmed. An interesting experiment, but not entirely successful.