Rescue Dawn

Minimalist, straightforward, and objective, Werner Herzog’s episodes of the crash, capture, and torture of his protagonist seem like non sequiturs. At first, there appears to be no plot or thread. No rising action. There is little to no manipulation of suspense – music, quick cuts, etc. But slowly and almost unnoticeably my emotional involvement spiked when I found myself on the edge of my seat chowing-down on my nails praying that Dieter Dengler makes it out alive. But that’s only one of several escapes in the movie, each more harrowing. Christian Bale’s hero feels slightly too optimistic and freakishly positive, but it’s clear it would take a man with a certain mindset to survive what Dengler did.