christofotiz

Danger Close finds its creed in one thing: honoring the soldier above all else. It’s rare that a documentary can so eloquently walk the line between a tasteful exposure of the soldier’s experience and telling a genuine story that doesn’t feel phoned in. Danger Close dances on that line, succeeding in honoring the soldier as well as repaying the viewer with a gripping tale. Trust me when I say that most audiences will leave with a satiated heart - and perhaps a less dry eye by the time the credits roll. We follow Alex Quade, a freelance journalist as she follows Special Forces Operative through a 300-mile trek along the Iraq/Iran border to find an outpost that fallen Green Beret Robert Pirelli built. This discovery is paramount to the plot, as Pirelli’s family back home seeks closure in unearthing their lost loved one’s landmark achievement. The final cut of the film swerves away from overwhelming the viewer with too constant a sense of tension, and is sure to move away from heartbreak once it has given us enough of a taste. In this way, Danger Close grants an ownership of experience to soldiers and Gold Star families while elegantly allowing empathy to the viewer. It would be a success if Danger Close managed just that; the fact that it remains a positively thrilling watch that I can easily recommend to any documentary lover heightens it to excellence.