Jeff Bridges, one of our most brilliant actors, gives such a stellar performance in Fearless, Peter Weir’s new film, that he almost overcomes the trappings of a narrative that is powerful but not particularly well-structured.
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Grade: B
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Theatrical release poster
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For the past two decades, Bridges has been showing his good looks and skillful versatility in film after film, with such highlights as The Last Picture Show (1971), for which he won his first Oscar nomination.
However, this year, Bridges excels in American Heart, a low-budget but terrific indie about a troubled father-son relationship, which, despite good reviews, very few viewers have seen.
In Fearless, Bridges is well cast as Max Klein, a middle-aged, happily married (his wife is played by Isabella Rossellini), a San Francisco architect who survives a terrific airplane crash.
Screenwriter Rafael Yglesias, who adapted his own novel, doesn’t shy away from dealing with the most existential issues, the human fear of death, and survival in the face of tragedy. It’s the kind of challenging theme that very few American movies would even try to portray.
The screenwriter said that he was inspired to write the tale after going through a traumatic car accident himself.
Peter Weir is the perfect director for such issues. Weir has shown his penchant for life’s mysteries and Gothic horror stories from his 1974 debut, The Cars That Ate Paris, through his masterpiece remains Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), a haunting tale of a turn-of-the-century picnic, which turns tragic after stirring the repressed sexuality of girls in a rigid boarding school.
(I would rather not mention Weir’s 1990 frivolous comedy, Green Card, which was commercially popular).
Most of Weir’s movies (The Last Wave, Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously, Witness) are situated in societies or places that appear to be calm and stable but are actually about to collapse as a result of internal human fears, or external events over which their residents have little or no control.
The first 15 minutes of Fearless are so striking in their use of visual and sound effects that they set the right tone and scary tension for a saga of a man who believes that he had actually died and is now on the brink of madness.
The film depicts one of the most horrifying plane crashes to be seen in a Hollywood movie. It deals in a bold, unconventional way with the issue of survival, namely, how arbitrary (or random) is the case of those individuals who survive–and those who do not.
Max is surrounded–and contrasted–with his wife and little boy, and two women. The first is played by Rosie Perez, who renders a truly heartbreaking performance as Carla Rodrigo, a young Latina mother who loses her baby during the crash. With some luck, she will be nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
The other woman is Laura Klein (Isabella Rossellini), the wife of Bridges’ partner, who had died in the accident.
And in the background, there are corrupt lawyers trying to make the most out of this tragic accident, hungry journalists craving for sensationalistic stories, greedyn and suspicious insurance companies, etc.
Unfortunately, the second part of Fearless resorts to melodramatic devices, including a sequence that depicts the exorcism of Carla’s guilt over her failure to save her toddler.
The resolution, in which life is ultimately reclaimed and reaffirmed by Max, also negates the serious atmosphere and honest intentions of the writer and director in film’s the first hour.
Though not entirely satisfying, Fearless is one of the few studio films that actually makes you think. I have no doubts that the movie would have strong imprint on you when the experience is over.
Unlike most Hollywood disaster movies, which are schlocky and offer facile entertainment with their all-star casts, Fearless is one of the most striking disaster movies–or rather movies about disaster.
Spoiler Alert: Movie Ending
Brillstein arrives at the Klein home to celebrate the airline’s settlement offer, bringing with him a fruit basket. Max eats one of the strawberries, but this time around, he experiences allergic reaction. Resuscitated by Laura, he survives, and recovers his emotional connection to his family, to the world, and to the reality of yet another chance at life.
The film’s soundtrack features the first movement of Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3, which is subtitled as “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.”
Bosch Painting
A book containing Hieronymus Bosch’s painting “The Ascent into the Empyrean” is shown on screen. It is said that the dying go into the light of heaven “naked and alone.” Near the finale, as Max relives his moving from the fuselage of the aircraft, he looks briefly towards the tunnel of light, which is modeled on that famous painting.
Cast
Jeff Bridges as Max Klein
Isabella Rossellini as Laura Klein
Rosie Perez as Carla Rodrigo
Tom Hulce as Steven Brillstein
John Turturro as Dr. Bill Perlman
Benicio del Toro as Manny Rodrigo
Deirdre O’Connell as Nan Gordon
John de Lancie as Jeff Gordon
Debra Monk as Alison
William Newman as Elderly Man
Credits:
Directed by Peter Weir
Screenplay by Rafael Yglesias, based on Fearless by Yglesias
Produced by Paula Weinstein, Mark Rosenberg
Cinematography Allen Daviau
Edited by William M. Anderson, Armen Minasian, Lee Smith
Music by Maurice Jarre
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date: Oct 15, 1993
Running time: 122 minutes
Budget $20 million
Box office $7 million
