Act of Valor
The war films during the war - of course, Vietnam - are necessarily contradictory. John Wayne in "Green Berets" and (ten years) "Coming Home" with Jane Fonda come to mind. Pentagon propaganda or polemics supporter of peace, they are required to create dispute.

Then there is the issue of such films as artistic merit of entertainment, which is what Hollywood is all about.

This question is for the "Law of valor" - a film about the war the U.S. Navy SEALs, which opened this weekend - brings a decidedly mixed reviews from professional film critics and moviegoers.

In the movie review aggregator "Rotten Tomatoes," 84 percent of the 9500 audience of some reviewers to "Law valor" of at least 3.5 stars (out of 5) - mainly the fingers. But only 26 percent of the 76 "Approved Tomatometer Critics" - those who write for newspapers, magazines and television - to give the "Law valor" positive feedback. This figure is even lower for those 27 reviewers site stands for "Top Critics" - only 19 percent.

The problem for many reviewers, is the casting - the actual Navy SEALs play themselves. They can be highly targeted and truly heroic - a wonderful Osama bin Laden and rescue people trapped by pirates - but it's not drama school graduate, and apparently it shows.

"Application of the troops of the Navy stars clever idea for a thriller," writes Claudia Puig of USA Today. "But the soldiers' awkward line readings are evident enough to distract from the potency of history." (As a former naval officer, I should note that the reference to Navy sailors, as a "soldier" can transport the keel of a crime).

By Robert Koehler on a variety of calls it "a soulless but efficient mechanical mock U.S. Navy SEALs in action."

Peter Rainer of the monitor gives "Valor Act" because C +.

"The film is essentially a series of action sequences very well," says Reiner. "Bad guys who specialize in funny beard, funny accents, and shaved his head, will feel right at home in the movie" Austin Powers ".

But the soldiers, who are the actors, he writes: "The seals here have been encouraged by their leaders ... as gently as a stalwart of any garden-variety analog of Hollywood. "

"Top Critic" Chris Vognar in the Dallas Morning News gives the "Law of Valor" a thumbs B. But he also notes that "the film does not pretend to anything but propaganda, a relative of the modern moral-raising documentary made by John Huston and Frank Capra during the Second World War."

Kenneth Turan, who reviews films for the Los Angeles Times and NPR, agrees to hold off on acting skills in a real-life seals.

But he also admits that "given how hot, hot, hot steel special forces after their role in the death of Osama bin Laden a chance to see the genuine article in action, but does not like Demi Moore (" GI Jane "), or Bruce Willis ("Tears of the Sun") is irresistible to a certain extent. "

"It still has some of the advertising sense of the film, plus a healthy dose of worship mythologizing," Turan wrote. "But honestly, once you see the seals in action, you may feel that a certain amount of lionizing in the order."

There are better movies with U.S. Special Forces portrayed actors in Hollywood. "Blackhawk Down" and "Clear and Present Danger" come to mind.

Rotten Tomatoes sums up consideration of the "act of valor" as: "This is definitely awe of real life heroes left her, but the law allows them to Valor cliche script, unnatural acts, and the jingoistic attitude that ignores the complexity of war."

Or, as the disabled vet of Vietnam is Jon Voight in "Coming Home" tells the group of high school students, "I tell you that it's not like this movie."