Fearless

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom Hulce, John Turturro, Benicio Del Toro
Directed by: Peter Weir
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
1993

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After surviving a deadly plane crash, a man (Jeff Bridges) becomes suddenly becomes fearless and detached from those around him. This causes problems with his wife (Isabella Rossellini), especially as he befriends a fellow crash survivor (Rosie Perez) mourning the death of her young son.

Review:

Tim: I am surprised that I didn't really like Fearless. This is exactly the type of movie I normally like- a thought provoking, different drama about aspects of life that we don't normally see. It is well acted, well directed, and isn't afraid to be emotional in an unsensational way. However, I was shocked how bored I was with this movie, and how difficult it was to try to connect to this movie in any way. I just did not like this movie very much at all.

My biggest problem with this movie is that Peter Weir unrolls it so incredibly slowly. The movie feels like it creeps along, and I got bored with it. I thought the story was interesting, but even with the great acting, I never really cared about the characters. I was kept at a distance and couldn't get into the story much at all.

As I've mentioned, the cast is quite good. Jeff Bridges is a terrific actor, and he does good work here. This was not the easiest role, but he played it with maturity and class. He runs the whole range of emotions in this movie. I am not surprised that he wasn't nominated for an Academy Award- I thought his performance was good, but not quite good enough. Rosie Perez is incredibly emotional in her performance. She is excellent, and believable as a grieving mother. While on a few occasions she strays into annoying territory, she is mostly quite strong. I felt like she deserved her Academy Award nomination (the only one this film received).

The rest of the cast is fine. Isabella Rossellini is decent as Bridges' wife, but I don't believe she was particularly strong. I liked seeing Tom Hulce as the lawyer. John Turturro was fine as the psychiatrist, but not great. The same goes for Benicio Del Toror- decent, but nothing special. I think this movie might have been a bit better if the supporting cast had given more.

The movie has a very interesting story. I think it is fascinating to a movie meditate on the effects of an incredibly traumatic experience. This can have different impacts on different people, and I liked that aspect of this film. I also liked the more metaphysical aspects of this film- the questions about God, life, death, and free will. Those were interesting. I also loved the vivid images of the plane crash near the end. I thought those were the most powerful, unforgettable images of the entire film, and they were hauntingly beautifl. On the other side, I wasn't a huge fan of how all of these were handled. I know the strawberry scenes are some of the most controversial. I didn't really get excited by these, and I felt like they were interesting, but a bit gimmicky. I wasn't a fan of the myriad of possibilities these scenes suggested.

I don't really know what else to say about Fearless. This is the type of movie I normally really like, so I was a bit thrown off by how much I didn't like it. I am not saying I hated it, because there is certainly quite a bit to like. I was just far more bored than I should have been for a movie supposedly so emotional and powerful. This movie did not work in my opinion, and it probably could have been much better.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: K-PAX, White Squall, The Vanishing, The Fisher King