Fearless

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Buy This Item Fearless by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $9.98  on 11-16-2008     When Max Klein (Jeff Bridges) finds himself facing imminent death as his plane hurls toward the ground, he finds inner calm and release from fear in his acceptance of his own unavoidable end. His panic erased, he helps other passengers to relax, and when he survives the impact, to escape. What follows is his difficult and complex journey back to emotional and spiritual equilibrium. Along the way he helps Carla (Rosie Perez), a woman smashed by the belief that her infant son's death in the accident was the direct result of her inability to hold him tightly enough, and alienates his wife, Laura (Isabella Rossellini), who tries desperately to understand what he's experiencing. Peter Weir's film is emotionally intense in an absolutely unsentimental way (very rare), and the complexity of the protagonist's experience is refreshing (if you don't mind feeling deeply). The handling of the crash sequences is chilling in an unsensational way, and the directing in general is a triumph of story-serving restraint. Not the usual Hollywood fare, but intensely rewarding for those who are tired of mind candy. <I>--James McGrath</I> Reader Reviews Peter Weir has made some great films, as has Jeff Bridges. But I think this is the finest work for both. Weir should've won a Best Director Oscar for the plane crash scene alone. Bridges pulls off a character that you can't help rooting for, no matter how much he wants to push us away. Outstanding acting all-around, even in small parts by Tom Hulce, John Turtorro and Benicio Del Toro, as well as Isabella Rosellini as Bridge's wife who's on the outside looking in. But it's Bridges and Rosie Perez who pull off one of the most complex, fascinating relationships you'll ever see. Anger, jealousy, unconscionable guilt, self-pity and finally an awakening. Not to be missed. As for the DVD, it is begging for an updated version (as someone else wrote on here, Criterion) with commentary and behind-the-scenes footage, especially of the haunting plance crash scene. Brilliant.

Fearless Available from Amazon Price: $9.98 Updated on 11-16-2008.

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