How's this for an opening; Ronny Cox's dunking his fingers in gooey vaseline jelly then slapping it on nice n thick between his toes. If that doesn't get you pumped... well, next we see Art Hindle putting a shirt on...in slow motion as the camera pans in admiring the sight with fluttering synth music to get the blood boiling. Now that I got you hooked. The story follows three marathon runners in the New Mexican desert being tormented at first by a fanatical group of motorbike-riding survival wannabe militants (the type that don't like the phrase "playing soldiers"), then after a fatal incident between the two groups, these runners have to fight for their lives if they want to reach the finish line.
"RAW COURAGE" is your systematic, but extremely well-made and gripping survival thriller in the tradition of "DELIVERANCE" and "RITUALS". There's no beating around the bush, yet in some ways I think it matches those films with its tight build-up, well-rounded characters, impactful emotions and exhausting suspense. For Ronny Cox, he's no stranger to this, as obviously starring in "DELIVERANCE", he co-writes the story and even gets into a beat-down with the crackpot militant leader played by M. Emmet Walsh, who at one stage grabs Cox by the scrotum. All's fair in love and war, I guess.
We watch these men, fighting dehydration, drenched in sweat, covered in dirt reverting to primal instincts, but at the same time never letting their humanity become forgotten. It's a true testament of survival of the fittest, as they are pushed to the limit, emotionally and psychically by the surrounding elements and what's in front of them. Where upon every encounter the tension and vulnerability builds. And for that, I do like the low-key (if predictable) ending, which gives you a chance to catch your breath.
