Architect Max Klein (Jeff Bridges), one of the few survivors of a terrible air crash and dubbed by the media “The Good Samaritan” for having led others to safety, has emerged feeling godlike and invulnerable. Disconnected from his wife (Isabella Rosselini) and son, he feels close only to another survivor, Carla (Rosie Perez), a young mother immobilized with grief and guilt over the death of her infant son. Their struggle to survive the survival is intricately set up in the first 111 minutes of the film; the final 10 pays it all off: in flashback, as Max lies suffocating from an allergic reaction to a strawberry, we see him moments before the crash walking in slow-motion through the rapidly descending plane, comforting terrified passengers with a smile, a nod, a few words. He then takes the seat next to a frightened young boy who is traveling alone, assuring him all will be well. This exquisite final sequence, its masterfully edited visuals perfectly underscored by a passage from Gorecki’s painfully beautiful “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs,” culminates with Max’s jolt back to breath and sanity.
FEARLESS (1993)
A man survives a plane crash, but can he survive life afterwards?
Architect Max Klein (Jeff Bridges), one of the few survivors of a terrible air crash and dubbed by the media “The Good Samaritan” for having led others to safety, has emerged feeling godlike and invulnerable. Disconnected from his wife (Isabella Rosselini) and son, he feels close only to another survivor, Carla (Rosie Perez), a young mother immobilized with grief and guilt over the death of her infant son. Their struggle to survive the survival is intricately set up in the first 111 minutes of the film; the final 10 pays it all off: in flashback, as Max lies suffocating from an allergic reaction to a strawberry, we see him moments before the crash walking in slow-motion through the rapidly descending plane, comforting terrified passengers with a smile, a nod, a few words. He then takes the seat next to a frightened young boy who is traveling alone, assuring him all will be well. This exquisite final sequence, its masterfully edited visuals perfectly underscored by a passage from Gorecki’s painfully beautiful “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs,” culminates with Max’s jolt back to breath and sanity.
