Well, I must respond to the critics of the film "Act of Valor". I am a champion of the film, since it was mostly shot on the 5d Mark 2. However, it's the drama and intense action that kept me involved while watching it.
I like the film for the very reasons that the critics didn't. It used Navy Seals as main characters and lots of physical, realistic operations to drive the storyline. Perhaps briefly explaining some of my background might help validate this view.
I know critics. I mean I really know them. I spent over 20 years on the air in the television industry. While I was working as a weekday reporter and fill-in anchor and weathercaster at the Fox station in Chicago, Richard Roeper was beginning his transition from newspaper to television.
He was nervous. He was also very likable at that time.
I showed him how to put on makeup. I told him I hated makeup, but that it was necessary, and while I was applying the base and powder on top and lighter powder on the nose and middle of the forehead, he asked if he was sweating and asked how much he should look at the camera. He was humble and committed to being good at what he did. He cared about each review. He wanted to be unbiased. You get to know a guy when you are putting makeup on his face. I wonder if he remembers this now, 18 years later.
What I thought was great about Richard Roeper on the air at the time in our dark, bat cave-like Chicago studios, is that he had substance. He was not a polished on-air personality. He spoke in fairly bland, stilted tones, but he was sincere and lived what he said. He believed every word.
As I read his and other critics' viewpoints that Act of Valor should have had a more complex script and put more seasoned actors in front of the camera, I can't help but think about what draws us all to a performance. Is it from the heart? Do the people saying the words believe what they are saying? In the case of Richard Roeper then and the Seals in Act of Valor now, I say yes.
Critics don't realize how smooth and jaded they become behind their computers. Some lose their sincerity. The two Navy Seals I've been around don't talk like articulate actors. They talk like the Seals in the movie and like Richard Roeper from the early 90s: A little monotone, not too polished, and direct. I happen to like that.
The large audience in the theater applauded at the end of Act of Valor. They are the real critics. And no, I am not a Rush Limbaugh right winger, although I do support our troops. I hold no political bias here. If you saw my documentary titled "Last of the Spanish Mustangs," you might label me as left. If you heard me on pro life issues, you might label me right. I tend to vote the candidate and the issue, not the party line.
I am also a champion of the film's director of photography, Shane Hurlbut. Shane gives every independent producer with a tiny budget and 5D Mark 2 camera hope. As I watch Shane being interviewed along with the film's producers, I notice Shane has the class and restraint of not swearing.
I didn't like that the film's producers swore freely in the interview I saw. Big turn off. Shane also comes with high praise from my wife's uncle, Kim Haun. Kim is an LA-based freelance photographer who has worked on big projects and recalls Shane's dedication in his early days as a grip.
Humility and sincerity. I like it in the film's dp, I liked it in a young critic, and I like it in the actors and script in Act of Valor.