Conference bookie::movies

372.0. "Fearless" by DSSDEV::RUST () Mon Nov 08 1993 14:26

    "Fearless" is the new Peter Weir film about people who've faced death
    and what it does to them. It stars Jeff Bridges and Rosie Perez, and
    includes a strong, sleazy performance by Tom Hulce as the disaster
    lawyer, and a disappointingly restrained (and small) part by John
    Turturro (sp?) as the airline shrink. 
    
    There are some really fine elements in this picture, but it didn't come
    together for me - which is a shame, because the good stuff is really
    good. For one, there's the "score" - most of the time there's no
    incidental music at all, the background consisting of machine noises
    (jet engines, sirens, traffic noise, all sorts of different
    techno-sounds, used as a drone or a bass line; made me think of the
    aboriginal music in "The Last Wave") and the occasional tune on a
    character's car radio or stereo. [The few occasions that did use
    not-in-the-character's-world background music felt jarring by
    contrast.]
    
    Another nice element - there's very little saccharine in this story.
    For example, Bridges' character Max saves a bunch of people from a
    plane crash (in the opening scenes, which open right away - no credits,
    and in the show I saw, no previews either; don't be late for this one),
    but when one of the survivors, a young boy, seeks him out and wants to
    stay near him, saying "I feel safe with you," instead of being
    presented as a "gosh, ain't he wonderful" thing, we get to see the
    episode through the eyes of Max's son, who finds the new kid to be just
    too weird, and his idolization of his father jealousy-provoking.
    
    In addition to that, there's some really fine airplane-crash footage;
    the best I can recall, in fact. (It still probably wasn't as cluttered
    and chaotic as the real thing, but if they took it much farther the
    audience would have no clue what was going on; I think this was a good
    compromise.)
    
    Perez' performance was another strong point; heartbroken and withdrawn,
    she underplayed marvelously, a much better foil than (I think) Bridges'
    portrayal quite deserved...
    
    Which leads me to the main thing I _didn't_ like: Bridges. Maybe it's
    me, but this role felt a lot like a mirror-image of his performance in
    "The Fisher King" (which I also wasn't crazy about); what was supposed
    to be a gazing-into-the-distance, I'm-beyond-all-this smile just seemed
    like a frozen smirk, and I found it hard to believe that everybody else
    found him so charismatic. [Oddly enough, for the sake of the rest of
    the movie, I was willing to accept the plot premise, but for me every
    scene that involved somebody idolizing Max included a fuzzy box around
    Bridges with an "insert charismatic person here" label on it. Oh,
    well. Maybe I'm still annoyed with him for camping up the psycho in the
    why-did-they-do-it remake of "The Vanishing".]
    
    Despite my difficulty in connecting with his character, I'll admit that
    his detachment added to another of my favorite parts of the movie.
    Somewhere in the middle there was a half-hour or so segment that felt
    like pure Patricia Highsmith to me: the protagonist wandering aimlessly
    between his normal life, home and family, and some Other World that he
    seems to be deliberately seeking out despite any amount of logic
    suggesting that it's a Bad Idea; his wife and son trying to reach him,
    being rebuffed - and yet in such an impersonal way that they can't
    attach blame to anything - and having to draw away from him in self
    defense; it all added up to severe feelings of alienation in the midst
    of the commonplace, with that certain knowledge (so often encountered
    in dreams) that Something Bad is Going to Happen, but that one is
    helpless to prevent it. I thought it was a really marvelous sequence,
    but alas! the thread was snapped towards the end of the movie, and
    its resolution felt like a cop-out.
    
    So, can I recommend this? Oh, heck, why not. The good parts are really
    good, there are some really amusing bits scattered throughout, the San
    Francisco scenery is lovely (as is the desert area around Bakersfield, 
    which I believe was portrayed by Australia), and most people probably
    don't have as much of a problem with Bridges as I do.
    
    But don't expect to see this as an in-flight movie any time soon. ;-)
    
    -b
    
    p.s. Spoiler-quip follows:
    
    <spoiler warning - I mean it>
    
    
    I couldn't help thinking, after it was all over, that it would have
    been a hoot and a half if, instead of opening with the cornfield
    sequence, the film had begun with a closeup of Bridges' mouth,
    muttering the word, "Strawberry...", and switching to a slo-mo shot of
    a half-eaten berry tumbling to the ground. (To be done right, this
    would have required a slight change in the ending, but I think it would
    have been an improvement, myself.)
    
    -b

    
    i think 'fearless' is the best movie i have seen in years. far
    and away the best movie of the decade (so far ;^). while i
    understand some of the concerns in .0 about bridges, i didn't
    have any problems with him and thought he (like the rest of
    the film) was just about perfect.
    
     

    re .1 Yes I liked it too. Bridges did a great job. A very intense
    story. Having seen Vanished and Fisher King within 1 1/2 years of each
    other it looks like Bridges is just getting better.
    
    		-Jim-
    

I also enjoyed the film a great deal. I felt vaguely disappointed as if it
didn't quite come together but I can't really put my finger on why. At any
rate it was an intelligent film that didn't play down to the usual level of
what gets released these days (or any other days for that matter).


Randy

> In addition to that, there's some really fine airplane-crash footage;
> the best I can recall, in fact.

	I 2nd the crash footage (which in addition to the real time lead
	in, is shown in flashbacks throughout the film, including some of
	the best footage at the end).

    RE: .4  by NETRIX::michaud 
    

	>I 2nd the crash footage (which in addition to the real time lead
	>in, is shown in flashbacks throughout the film, including some of
	>the best footage at the end).
    
    Unfortunately, the tape we rented was twisted near the end.  Question
    after the <spoiler> please...
    
    
    
    The place where the tape malfunctioned was after he ate the strawberry
    at home and crashed to the floor.  There was some "going to the light"
    flashbacks from the crash, and I think we saw him just start to be
    revived when it cut out.
    
    Is that pretty much the end?  
    
    Does he stay with his family or go off to live in the desert with the
    Latino woman and the boy who keeps following him around?
    
    Does he take the settlement money from the insurance company and throw
    it off the Golden Gate Bridge, or what?
    

    answer behind a spoiler
    
    
    
    It's some time ago since I've seen the movie, but I hope I can
    remember:
    His wife manages to revive him and so saves HIS life. Now he's not the
    big hero anymore, but she is, at least for him.
    He stays with his family. (Happy End, isn't it?).
    
    Andrea
    
    p.s. I cannot say exactly why, but I did not like that movie.
    
    

    
>>    p.s. I cannot say exactly why, but I did not like that movie.

    Me neither.  Good plane sequences, yes, and Rosie was good, but
    as pointed out in the base note, Bridges turned in a real nothing
    performance.
    
    

    ROSIE WAS GOOD?!?!  At what, being herself?  This is the biggest scam
    since Madonna professed to being a singer.  Take a look at her in
    Untamed Heart, same accent and she lives in the mid-west.  She drives
    me insane!
    
    However, I liked the movie (didn't love it and I, too, am not sure what
    element was missing) and it's definitly worth renting if you missed it
    on the big screen.
    
    MJ

    Haven't seen the picture but was it said that she was a native
    mid-westerner?  If not maybe she relocated.  Also how do you know what
    "herself" is.  The majority of us do not know these actors only the
    character's they play.
    
    Donna

    Re: .8
    
    Have you seen _Fearless_?  I haven't, but I've read enough about it to
    know that Rosie's character is nothing like the other characters she's
    played.  She's a subdued and grieving mother this time.

    I think Rosie Perez' performance is superb. The way she changes from
    someone smashed flat with grief who barely has the strength to get out
    of bed, to a woman who can go dancing in a shopping mall at Christmas
    is, if you'll forgive me, awesome. And the way she looked at the baby
    cradled in the other shopper's arms...without saying a word you could
    see *all* the pain and sadness and longing. 
    
    Nick