I decided to give Act of Valor a watch after reading some of the reviews on here. I was fully aware that the main cast were not professional actors, and was prepared for the occasional wooden performance. In fairness to the cast, I felt that the acting was perfectly adequate for the genre, and even exceeded at times performances by the likes of Stallone and Schwarzenegger (that's not really saying much). I felt that the director did a superb job, particularly with the action sequences, and that the cinematography was also fantastic (I love those DSLR's).
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the writing. I have never heard such poorly written dialogue, nor have I ever been witness to such lousy characterization. Here is the sum total of what we came to learn about the 2 leading characters: * 1 can surf, while the other needs practice. * They are both navy seals. * 1 has 5 children, while the other is expecting his 1st. * They are both very, very heroic. If a writer truly wants his (or her) audience to care about the characters, we need to know a little bit about them. They need to feel like real people to us. I can't remember the last time I shed a tear for a caricature.
Almost all of the non-action related dialogue was centered around the Lieutenants anticipation of the birth of his child. The writer clearly felt this was an important plot point, as he continually kept referring to it at every possible moment. This not only wasted valuable time, which could have been better used to acquaint us with the characters, but also made the eventual outcome blatantly obvious. Of course he was going to die!!! They keep referring to it in the hope that we will be sad when it happens. I wasn't sad! Who was that guy???
I am not trying to dismiss the courage of Navy Seals. The work they do is incredible. These brave men risk their lives on a daily basis, in the noble pursuit of protecting their country. They deserve recognition and gratitude for the amazing work that they do. Unfortunately, I felt that this tribute failed to do that justice. What could have been incredibly powerful, was sabotaged by poor writing, relegating the film to utter mediocrity. Such a shame!
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the writing. I have never heard such poorly written dialogue, nor have I ever been witness to such lousy characterization. Here is the sum total of what we came to learn about the 2 leading characters: * 1 can surf, while the other needs practice. * They are both navy seals. * 1 has 5 children, while the other is expecting his 1st. * They are both very, very heroic. If a writer truly wants his (or her) audience to care about the characters, we need to know a little bit about them. They need to feel like real people to us. I can't remember the last time I shed a tear for a caricature.
Almost all of the non-action related dialogue was centered around the Lieutenants anticipation of the birth of his child. The writer clearly felt this was an important plot point, as he continually kept referring to it at every possible moment. This not only wasted valuable time, which could have been better used to acquaint us with the characters, but also made the eventual outcome blatantly obvious. Of course he was going to die!!! They keep referring to it in the hope that we will be sad when it happens. I wasn't sad! Who was that guy???
I am not trying to dismiss the courage of Navy Seals. The work they do is incredible. These brave men risk their lives on a daily basis, in the noble pursuit of protecting their country. They deserve recognition and gratitude for the amazing work that they do. Unfortunately, I felt that this tribute failed to do that justice. What could have been incredibly powerful, was sabotaged by poor writing, relegating the film to utter mediocrity. Such a shame!