From Peter Weir comes a truly wonderful film, that is intense and harrowing, beautiful and heart rending. It does drag in the middle half, and John Turturo's part is underwritten, but this is a remarkable film. The crash scenes are certainly very harrowing, but it is in the performances, music score and direction that Fearless really soars. The script is surprisingly intelligent, the story and its themes is compelling and the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. Fearless is brilliantly directed as is usually the case with Weir, and the score is one of the most haunting and emotional scores I have ever heard in a film, and I have heard a lot of them. The performances though are pretty much outstanding, bringing to life complex characters. Jeff Bridges is in my opinion a very underrated actor, and certainly a talented one. Here he gives one of his best performances as a man who is thrilled by the fact that he survived death and is convinced he is immortal. Isabella Rossellini is also remarkable as the loving wife, and Tom Hulce is fine as the well meaning attorney. And despite his underwritten role, John Turturo does what he can. But for me, the best performance came from Rosie Perez, she was truly captivating and absolutely believable as the mother who lost her young child and now completely overwhelmed by guilt and pain. Fearless isn't a very easy film to get into first time, it is emotionally heart wrenching and I think ambitious as well, the ending is proof of that. Overall, a wonderful film, minor flaws abundant but a film that deserves more recognition. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Review of Fearless
