Rescue Dawn

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Christian Bale plays naval pilot Dieter Dengler, a German-born American citizen who is shot down during the early stages of the Vietnam War over Laos, and is then kept as a prisoner with other POWs in a small shack in the middle of the jungle. They struggle to survive with little or no food, as Dieter hatches a long-winded plan to escape the confines of the camp. Opening with real footage of a village being bombed, Werner Herzog's feature version of his 1997 documentary 'Little Dieter Learns To Fly' does little to expand on the themes explored more thoroughly in said doc. The problem here is a lack of a focus on the part of Herzog, who allows some plot strands to unfold to a point, but then frustratingly severs them without a proper conclusion. For about an hour in the middle of Dawn's running time, everything seems to hit its stride, and it appears to be unfolding tentatively and with genuine skill - taking things up several notches from the unemotional and dull opening. Bale and Zahn in particular excel in roles that have an indisputable emotional power - and not just in the staggering weight loss. There's a real sadness in Zahn's eyes that portrays a vast sense of emotion far beyond any other role of his career, and if there's any justice in the world, the former funnyman will bag his first Oscar nomination for this stunning performance. The same, however, cannot be said of the unbelievably irritating Jeremy Davies, who incoherently mumbles his way through another role. While a partial lack of urgency in the concluding twenty minutes will leave you scratching your head, Rescue Dawn is still a captivating story of survival that is helped enormously by a predictably brilliant Bale, and a stunning turn from Zahn.

Director: Werner Herzog

Starring: Christian Bale, Zach Grenier, Pat Healy

Details: USA / 126mins (15A)