Rescue Dawn

Rescue Dawn (directed by Werner Herzog)

There are great directors, and then there are directors like Werner Herzog, who so embodies the essence of filmmaking that watching one of his movies is more of a life-affirming experience than entertainment. With "Rescue Dawn," he manages to do both.

Christian Bale plays Dieter Dengler, a German-born pilot in the U.S. Navy who simply just wants to fly. Herzog directed a documentary featuring the real Dengler a decade ago, Little Dieter Needs To Fly, and in Dawn, Herzog is able to give his story a full-fledged treatment.

Rescue Dawn is Herzog's first foray into the mainstream, although he also achieved considerable success with 2005's excellent documentary Grizzly Man. It's nice to think that a director as radical as Herzog could break into the system, but his films have always been deeply personal journeys into the inner workings of the human soul--pretty much poison for Hollywood.

Dawn opens with Dengler flying on a mission during Vietnam, when his plane is shot down over Laos, is taken prisoner, and soon finds himself in a seemingly inescapable predicament with two other Americans (Steve Zahn and the annoying Jeremy Davies) and others that were shot down on an Air America mission.

Dengler comes up with a plot to escape, but once he and his cohort Duane (Zahn) make it into the jungle, they realize that their survival is just as compromised. Bale and Zahn are excellent in their respective roles, with Bale proving to be one of the best young actors currently working. Bale has chosen a plethora of challenging/interesting characters since 1998's Velvet Goldmine, ranging from Patrick Bateman to Batman, but as Dengler, it's his best fit yet.