Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay Peter Weir, the acclaimed Australian filmmaker, sits alongside George Miller as one of the pivotal artists who ushered in his country’s New Wave of cinema in the 1970s and 1980s. With films like Picnic at Hanging Rock and Gallipoli, Weir cemented his legacy as an important part of late-20th-century world cinema. And, in my humble opinion, the later films of his career like Dead Poets Society and The Truman Show are actually his best works. However, what is easily his most underrated and underappreciated film is the 1993 drama Fearless starring Jeff Bridges and based on Rafael Yglesias’s novel of the same name.
Why is this movie worth your time? Keep reading to find out. 😊 What’s It About [NOTE: This section contains minor spoilers for “Fearless.” If you’d rather see the film for yourself, skip to the next section.] While in midair on a commercial jet, Max Klein (Jeff Bridges) and the other passengers are suddenly in danger as the plane begins to crash. As the other passengers understandably freak out, Max remains strangely calm (despite admitting his fear of flying before taking off) and is able to help dispel fear amongst his fellow passengers. The crash kills most of the passengers and injures many others, but Max is unharmed and decides to leave the crash site as he feels pestered by the press and FAA investigators trying to question him. In the days following the crash, Max’s family and friends notice his changed behavior and how unaffected he is by the traumatic event. He is also praised on the news by surviving passengers for how he successfully calmed them as the plane was going down. However, Max becomes increasingly distant from his wife and son and becomes convinced that he has forever defeated death itself. He begins spending his spare time consoling another survivor of the crash, Carla Rodrigo (Rosie Perez), who feels guilty about failing to keep her infant child alive during the crash. As lawyers and government agents continue pressuring him to take one side or the other, Max succumbs to the stress and acts on his newfound belief in his immortality by confronting death head-on multiple times. In doing so, Max revels in his fearlessness and must come to recognize the true meaning of a second chance. Why It’s Worth Watching I cannot say this any other way: Fearless very much sits on the shoulders of Jeff Bridges’s commanding performance. As our protagonist, Bridges never once stumbles or falters in showing the incredibly nuances and complexities of Max’s unorthodox way in which he processes the trauma of a near-death experience. This certainly helps anchor the movie’s uncomfortable themes and ideas in a relatable character, and that’s all thanks to Bridges. Without a doubt, his turn in Fearless stands toe to toe with the many other iconic performances of his career in films such as John Carpenter’s Starman and the Coen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski and True Grit. Simply put, if you’re just a Jeff Bridges fan and haven’t seen this movie please trust me when I say that it’s more than worth your time. But, that’s not to say other members of the cast aren’t great, too. Notably, Rosie Perez as fellow crash survivor Carla effectively serves as a foil to Max in terms of how people deal with trauma, grief, and survivor’s guilt differently. Whereas facing death turns Max into a free-wheeling daredevil looking for danger, the loss of her child has turned Carla into an emotional wreck who (understandably and believably) struggles to accept the reality of her loss and the fact that she kept her life when her baby lost theirs. Whenever on screen together, the thematic aspirations of director Peter Weir are on full display as Bridges and Perez play out just how complex processing trauma can truly be. This all adds up to said aspirations. In adapting Yglesias’s novel, Weir crafts an exceptionally mature and intelligent narrative about how a man accepting and embracing his own mortality and the thin line on which it rides helps him (and, therefore, the audience) come to terms with the existential beauty of life in all its comedic and tragic elements. In other words, Fearless makes for an exceptionally well-done examination of the mysteries of the human psyche that is smart and poignant while also entertaining and by no means a waste of your time. Honestly, there isn’t much more I can say if what I’ve already said hasn’t convinced you. Go check out Fearless because it is undoubtedly one of Weir’s best films and a criminally underappreciated drama from recent cinematic memory. Trust me; your time will not be wasted. Have I convinced you to check out Peter Weir’s Fearless? What’s a movie that you feel is underappreciated? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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