FEARLESS
A film review by Jon A. Webb
Copyright 1993 Jon A. Webb
Jeff Bridges survives a plane accident and saves a bunch of people's lives; in the process, he discovers he does not fear death. He becomes transfigured, spiritual, angel-like. He continues on this path for a while, but eventually reality begins to intrude.
This is an interesting film from a psychological point of view. I found it compelling and engaging for about the first two-thirds, but the ending is a little too pat and down to earth for my taste. This film, directed by Peter Weir, sells itself out to conventional mores in the end, like WITNESS. Just as we shouldn't expect an Amish woman to abandon herself to Harrison Ford in WITNESS we should not expect Jeff Bridges to find such a neat path out of the maze he has constructed in his mind here.
I really liked the spiritual theme in the beginning of the film. You really don't know if Bridges is crazy, or anointed. Bridges's natural devil-may-care style meshes well with this role.
This film has some remarkably good points. The plane crash scene is incredible, perfectly believable; it looks just like all those pictures we've seen on the news. Rosie Perez is great as the spiritual partner to Jeff Bridges. There is a scene or two where just her expression tells a complete story (I have in mind the scene with Isabella Rosselini). Jeff Bridges is also good, but not as good, I thought, as Perez. Isabella Rosselini is acceptable, but she clearly does not have her mother's presence, or ability to project her beauty into a role and thus add depth to a movie.
I found the script a little weak. There is this obvious ploy concerning strawberries that is just a little too obvious. As I said, the pat return to hearth and home at the end is a little too neat and Hollywood-esque. And an early scene where Bridges encounters an old lover seems pointless.
-- J
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