Super-secret SEALs ready for their closeup

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Updated: March 24, 2012 9:55AM

Seems like only yesterday the Navy SEALs were the most secretive special operations force in the United States military.

Now it’s almost as if they’ve hired a publicity team.

Is there anybody who hasn’t heard of Navy SEAL Team Six?

Not to mention the media blitz that surrounded the release of American Sniper, the sometimes jaw-droppingly detailed autobiography of Chris Kyle, whose 160 documented kills are the most in U.S. history. (Even as we were interviewing Kyle on WLS-AM and he was recounting some of the stories from his undeniably riveting book, I was thinking: Should he really be talking about all this?)

And now comes “Act of Valor,” the  controversial, government-approved, real-life SEALs-playing-fictional-SEALs film that opens Friday. Already some critics are calling it the most blatant propaganda this side of “The Green Berets” and “Top Gun,” saying it’s nothing more than a recruiting film — which is exactly how it originated.

“ ‘Act of Valor’ is replete with . . . action, but there are a few things it doesn’t have: There are no corrupt officers, no damaged heroes, no queasy doubts about the value of the mission or the virtue of the cause,” writes Jordan Zakarin in the Huffington Post.

“That’s because ‘Act of Valor’ was born not in Hollywood, but in the Pentagon. It was commissioned by the Navy’s Special Warfare Command and its success will be measured not in box-office receipts, but in the number of new recruits it attracts to the Navy SEALs.”

In a review titled “Honor, Courage, Commitment, Popcorn: ‘Act of Valor’ Wants You,” the Village Voice says, “This is the most lavish recruiting tool the armed forces have deployed to theaters in memory . . .

“More than any cinematic precedent, ‘Act of Valor’ most closely resembles the latest upgrade of “America’s Army,” the multiplayer recruitment-drive game launched by the U.S. military in 2002.”

SPOILER WARNING! My review of “Act of Valor” will be on the Sun-Times’ website and on richardroeper.com Friday — and as always, I try to avoid giving away too much plot. But in discussing this film’s potential effectiveness as a recruiting tool, I’m going to reveal pivotal story points just ahead.

There’s no doubt “Act of Valor” glorifies the SEALs — but it’s not as if there’s a shortage of superior films that question American motives and examine the complexities of war and the physical and psychological damage it does to soldiers.

If some teenager sees “Act of Valor” and decides he wants to be a Navy SEAL — well, good luck with that. You’ve got maybe the same chance of someone who sees “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” and decides to become a secret agent. Even if you get into the SEALs program, there’s 30 months of training before you even become a SEAL. That’ll tend to weed out the candidates who enlisted because they saw a movie.

One more time, SPOILER ALERT.

“Act of Valor” focuses on about a half-dozen SEALs. Before it’s all over, one loses an eye, one’s in a wheelchair — and one is getting a military funeral. For every impressionable kid who exits the theater and runs to the recruitment office, there might be a half-dozen who say, “Thanks anyway.”

And the winners will be . . .

Predictions in all 24 categories:

Picture: “The Artist.” Actor: Jean Dujardin. Actress: Viola Davis. Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer. Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer. Director: Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist.”

Original Screenplay: “Midnight in Paris.” Adapted Screenplay: “The Descendants.” Animated Film: “Rango.” 

Documentary: “Paradise Lost 3.” Foreign Film: “A Separation.” Editing: “The Artist.” Song: “Real in Rio.” Sound Mixing: “Hugo.” Sound Editing: “Hugo.” Score: “The Artist.”

Art Direction: “Hugo.” Makeup: “Harry Potter.” Costume: “The Artist.” Cinematography: “The Tree of Life.” Visual Effects: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Documentary Short: “Incident in New Baghdad.” Animated Short: “La Luna.” Live Action Short: “Raju.”

Good luck!