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copyright ©1999-2001
DigsMagazine.com.
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flick pick
| Fearless
1993
Directed by : Peter Weir
Written by : Rafel Yglesias
Starring : Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom
Hulce, John Turturro, Benicio del Toro
Language: English
Look for it at the video store under:
comedy
Watch it when you’re in the mood
for something:
serious |
The
critic says:
 / 5 the rating
system explained
Fun factor:
/ 5 |
Plot synopsis
On a routine business trip flight from San
Francisco to Houston, architect and flying-phobe Max Klein’s worst
fear comes true: his plane crashes. Miraculously, Max not only survives,
but comes away with the revelation that he’s faced death, and
amazingly enough, felt no fear. He even becomes a hero of sorts, when
his miraculous calmness in the midst of the chaos allows him to help
many of his fellow passengers find their way safely out of the plane
wreck. Back home with his family, Max is a completely changed man, no
longer afraid of anything, and both his wife Laura and his young son are
no longer certain how to interact with him. The airline-appointed
psychiatrist tells Laura that Max is experiencing post-traumatic-stress
disorder, the feelings of invulnerability a symptom of his refusal to
acknowledge what’s really happened, but for the first time in his
life, Max feels fully and truly alive. Several months later, the doctor
has been able to help nearly all of the survivors begin to move on with
their lives, but two remain unreachable: Max, who claims his life is
better than ever, and Carla, a young mom who’s consumed with guilt
that she wasn’t able to save her baby boy when the plane went down. In
an attempt to help both, the psychiatrist introduces Max to Carla. An
instant bond develops between them, and Max helps Carla learn to live
her life again. But while Max may be Carla’s savior, his marriage and
family life are disintegrating, as his frustrated wife begins to lose
her patience with the stranger that her husband has become.
Review I
have no idea what it’s like to be in a plane crash, and frankly, I
hope never, ever to know firsthand, but the opening scenes of Fearless,
in which Jeff Bridges is floating around in a haze after having not only
survived the crash but actually led his fellow survivors to safety, are
so strangely vivid and jarring, so dreamily disorienting, that you feel a little
like you’ve been right there on the flight along with Max Klein. It’s
surreal and unsettling and beautiful, and you feel an immediate bond
with Jeff Bridges’ architect, so much so that even when later, you
want to slap him for ruining his relationship with both his wife and
son, you still kind of sympathize with his character – he’s not just
another jerk who refuses to communicate with those who love him most. Fearless
isn’t a disaster movie, although it begins with a tragic plane crash.
It’s not about the melodrama of what happens when the unimaginable
takes place, but about the quietness of what happens afterwards, when
people let go of the traumas and move on, embracing the ordinary wonder
of normal life. Jeff Bridges is terrific as Max -- he’s a bit of
swagger mixed with a core of true kindness, and it’s both funny and
sad that his complete forthrightness is the very thing that makes it so
hard for those around him to understand him. And Rosie Perez’s
devastated young mom is just perfect, her pain so real that it’s
palpable. There’s not a hint of overacting in her performance, which
is what makes her character so heartbreakingly touching. There’s
plenty of emotion, but no sentimentality, and it’s a wonderful feeling
that carries through the entirety of Fearless. Though the film’s
pacing does seem somewhat off near the end – there’s a fairly
contrived scene in the mall with Max and Carla that seems to drag things
out longer than necessary– Fearless is still extraordinary. —reviewed by Y. Sun
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