Thursday, September 17, 2009

Fearless


If you ever want to experience an airline crash, then the final reel of Fearless is a must see. Unfortunately, the time it takes to get there may seem like a long wait between flights.

Jeff Bridges plays a San Francisco architect whose business trip to Houston is rudely interrupted by a nose dive into a corn field.

He's one of the few survivors of the crash and, despite his long-standing fear of flying, emerges from the wreckage as a calm and confident hero. In fact, regardless of a mysterious wound in his side, he's gotten it into his head that he's invulnerable and that something special about his presence is what saved his fellow survivors. You almost expect him to start turning water into wine.

Another survivor, Rosie Perez, copes with the ordeal in a different manner. Her baby son was killed in the landing and she's heading toward a catatonic state. The only person who can help her recover is Bridges.

Fortunately, he's able to squeeze her into the schedule of his new-found occupation as life-affirming savior.

Fearless has potential, but it goes off-track midway through and collides with its own style. The movie is torn between allegory and psychology, and ends up going neither direction.

It's as if Fearless lacks the strength of its own convictions.

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