Christian Bale stars as Dieter Dengler, in "Rescue Dawn," Werner Herzog's powerful POW film set in the early stages of the Vietnam War. Flying a secret mission into Laos, Dengler's aircraft gets shot down and he gets captured, tortured, and imprisoned by a Laotian squad of a-holes. From there, it is a battle to survive, a battle to thrive, a battle to get the hell out of dodge.
Bale shines as Dengler, a german-born man whose dream in life was to fly airplanes, and who got his chance with the American Armed Forces. Bale is one of the most talented actors working today--from his performances in American Psycho, The Prestige, and his brilliant revamped Bruce Wayne in the newest Batman Pictures (fingers crossed for the Dark Knight), Bale is proving himself to be one hell of a persona on-screen. And he does not disappoint here.
Steve Zahn, a funny actor I first noticed in SubUrbia, a film adaption of the great Eric Bogosian's play of the same name, turns in a solid dramatic performance as one of the fellow American POWs Dengler shares hell with in Laos.
Jeremy Davies turns in a great performance as Gene. *Even if history was rewritten to set up more obstacles for tension using Gene as a conduit, the acting here is top notch in so many ways.
A surprisingly quiet film, this is not a rehash of Steve McQueen's epic "The Great Escape." It's a rather beautiful story of keeping hope alive in the harshest of territories. Often times sad, often times inspirational, "Rescue Dawn" is two hours of cinema that will stay with you.
*There has been some talk of changing history to create tension, and while it would be nice to know some truth, the performances by the three leads, and the story itself, are too great for that to be a bother. Some say the same thing about Braveheart and go out of their way to destroy that awesome movie. Sometimes you just have to take the elements of story with a grain of Mrs. Dash.
For its Genre/Era/X: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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