Film Clip: Act of Valor

When a team of Navy SEALs rescue a CIA operative from the jungle compound of an international drug smuggler, they learn that she was on to something big: The smuggler was in cahoots with a militant jihadi bent on smuggling a troupe of suicide bombers into 16 American cities. Written by Kurt Johnstad and directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh, here’s an action movie with a twist: The stars are real honest-to-goodness active duty SEALs and the combat scenes are filmed with live ammunition. Johnstad’s sometimes stilted dialogue taxes the cast’s acting ability between firefights, so it’s probably fortunate that the bullets never stop flying for long. The battles have a tough documentary realism to them, and McCoy and Waugh keep them blasting along with a conviction that compensates for any awkward lulls. J.L.