Last week I decided to go to the theaters and watch the movie Act of Valor. This is pretty unusual for me as I usually hate going to the theater. Yes, I am that cheap. Also, I do not prefer to go alone but that weekend I went. I really wanted to go and support a pro-military movie. Hollywood has put out too many movies that are in my opinion “unpatriotic.” If that offends, tough. Act of Valor did very well, in fact better than even I expected, with a weekend haul of 26 million dollars.

Commentators have poured forth a lot of ink, both figurative and literal, trying to have this movie cast into the pit. They castigate it for poor acting and that it was a “propaganda” film. You know what? I could give a…ok, breath….regain temper. Anyway, in all honesty the acting was in some places rather wooden and in other places terse. But, these guys are the real thing, not actors. This film took 2 years to film and the crew went out on actual SEAL training missions. On of the reason it was such a long process was because many of these guys also went on deployments to Afghanistan or wherever Uncle Sam needed them. I cut them some slack. As for propaganda, I have no issue with that as well. In a world of moral subjectivity, I could see the point. However, for me, the world is black & blue – you mess with the US and we will turn you black & blue. These men and some women stand on the wall while I lack the ability or desire to do so. I honor them and if more Americans want to join them after watching this film, I am all for it.

Congrats to the filmmakers, crew, and squids. You made a hell of a movie.