Review of Fearless (1993) by I Don't Know W — 10 Jul 2011

Fearless is an interesting look on life and how people deal with death. Staring some brilliant actors and with great directing added, Fearless is compelling and touching.

After surviving a horrific plan crash, Max Klein assists the other survivors to safety, then buggers off. At first it seems he is in shock, but Max is in just the opposite mood. Full of new feelings of compassion and fearlessness, Max tries to help another survivor overcome the loss of her son. But is Max really alive or is he hidding his deeper feelings? Fearless is a dramatic story that seems like melodrama but it goes further into the emotional subject matter into something more intelligently complex. We see a variety of characters and how they deal with their emotions and situations, and it's even more characteristically detailed than you would think. Jeff Bridges is brilliant in this movie and plays his characters on a complex level because we see Max as a man who isn't emotionally affected by the crash, but we see little hints of emotional restraint that aren't clear at first. Isabella Rossallini plays Max's wife who is heartbroken by Max's new attitude and lack of attention to her, but as much as she loves Max she would risk her marriage just to keep her son happy. But Rosie Perez shines on the screen as Carla, the Mexican woman who is absolutely crushed by her son's death on the plane. Perez gives a powerful performance as we see her mood change, her judgements change, and we see the inner pain and struggle in her through her eyes and expressions.

Director Peter Weir does an excellent job of directing Fearless. He balances and portrays the emotions of the characters and the seriousness of the situations greatly. When we see Jeff Bridges feeling care free and happy, we see that and get that feeling. When Rosie Perez cries, we can feel that emotion. And when Rossellini struggles we REALLY get a change in mood and feel that emotional struggle. That's what's great about Fearless. It is unexpected in its genre, themes and moods. But it is presented very seriously and in paced in a very entertaining manner. It's the great cinematography that does it. There are some great scenes there the lighting looks brilliant in its surroundings. The enviroment of the movie is well filmed. A little bit on the cheep side, which is a fresh look in a movie. The camera movements and positions are used very well too. You think that the movie doesn't show the plane crash because the movie begins after the crash, but it does show it in flashbacks, and those flashback moments are paced with great suspence and created with great intensity.

Fearless is a very intelligent story and a very original one too. The way the story portrays characters and the depth of their emotional struggle is intriguing from beginning to end because we don't know the puzzle that is human emotion until we see the ending. With powerful performances (which Rosie Perez earned an Oscar nomination for) and great directing, Fearless is an intelligent movie and a recommended one to watch.