{Act of Valor opens in Seattle area theaters on Friday February 24th}

The men who serve in the Navy SEALs are true American heroes. The same as the firefighters who ran into the burning towers on 9/11, or a dedicated inner city schoolteacher who spends their own salary on materials for the kids.

SEALs train for years and risk their lives to become the tip of America's spear. Make no mistake, we want them on that wall. It's certainly no deficiency of theirs that none of that rigorous training is focused on cinematic acting. As such, it seems wrong to criticize their performance in a motion picture. I've seen better, but I've also seen far worse actors onscreen than the ruggedly handsome men of Act of Valor who often perfectly channel the blank emoting skills of Keanu Reeves.

Truth be told, the non-professional actors tend to exceed the professionals in this one. Anything negative to follow is squarely directed at the rest the folks involved in Act of Valor, who decided that the way to give their straight-to-video script a marketing boost was to cast active duty military members. Not to mention the decision open with a five minute explanation where the directors speak straight to the camera to set the expectation that if you don't love the film, then you clearly hate America. Seriously. (Though I could be paraphrasing.) On the plus side, the picture has at least one standout action sequence and a persistent yet implicit message that Bill Murray may be the America's secret weapon in the war on terror. So it ain't all bad.

If you've ever played Call of Duty – Modern Warfare, then Act of Valor will feel like one of the most comprehensive video game adaptations ever. What with the over-used white boxes highlighting targets onscreen and the painful to watch first person shooter perspective the filmmakers drop into from time to time. It feels like the US military ponied up big time to support the best recruiting spot they've shot since the commercial with the Marine taking on some giant dragon monster. I'm working hard not to picture how much of my tax dollars were spent by the Defense Department, who seemingly provided practically everything that appears onscreen — other than the professional actors involved.

The storyline is pretty stock stuff. We're introduced to the SEAL team who soon must bid family a painful farewell to rescue a CIA operative taken captive by an evil drug kingpin. Shockingly, if you've never seen a movie shot from the stock script one of the men has his first kid on the way. Yep, that's how this one rolls. After what feels like a pretty lightweight briefing they're on the move to rescue her at a hardened jungle compound. That's just one end of a string the will quickly unravel into a convoluted terror plot that if not stopped will result in suicide bombers across our nation.

The SEALs, not surprisingly, are very, very good at depicting military men in action. And the initial raid (which is featured prominently on the trailer) is well staged and very impressive to watch. That, along with some of the other action sequences are the reason to see the film, if there is one. Apparently at least part of the intense swift boat rescue sequence was shot as a live fire exercise. I don't know about all that, but it absolutely is the best part of the picture. Thinking about it reminds me that my straight-to-video snark earlier isn't entirely fair. The action is well-shot, and the cinematography complements it well. It's just when people start talking that things grind rapidly to a halt.

For those who are intrigued enough to head to a theater, I'll go light on plot recaps. On a whole, the story itself won't bend your mind in any surprising ways. And even if these guys were fantastic actors, there's only so much one can do with the script. Subtlety of story and/or presentation clearly isn't the goal here. By the end it's been clear for a while where things are heading, draining much of the dramatic tension. Expert moviegoers will probably be able to figure out the final arc just from the character who starts the film expecitng a kid. The telegraphed plot just gives the brain more time to notice the weaknesses on screen, though there certainly are some unexpected treats beyond the action. By far the best element of the final reel is when the Senior Chief character (played by an actual SEAL and Bill Murray look alike) refers to the terrorist they're hunting as "pulling a Polanski on him." And he doesn't mean drugging and raping a minor.

I have a sense the writers worked hard to avoid all controversy to keep things purely on a positive plane of propaganda. There's a palpable feeling of them covering all the bases multi-culturally speaking. While the main bad guy is an Islamic terrorist, they have his partner in crime as a Jewish friend from childhood. Which would be fine, if a bit hysterical. Except if you're willing to ponder this strangeness long enough for it to occur to you, this character is only in it for the money — playing into an equally offensive Jewish stereotype. Not that I'm at all suggesting that's intended. There's also a few believability gaps in the script. Don't even get me started on the lax border control systems, which allow the key terrorist to bounce between countries with impunity. Even though he's seriously recognizable.

Act of Valor would just be a stock action film with strong technical production and a single stand-out sequence if it wasn't for the halo effect of true soldiers being cast in the key roles. In the end, these soldiers are a reason to make a donation to a worthy veterans group, not a reason to see this movie. Certainly stronger than that SEALs film with Charlie Sheen, it's unlikely to persist in most viewers memory much beyond screening it. Except perhaps in the eyes of potential recruits, which is what I'd imagine the military is betting on with their significant investment in the production.

Make your own choice about heading out to see Act of Valor, just please make an informed one. That's what American freedom is all about.