Pass the Popcorn: Movies from where I Sit

I'm an admirer of Peter Weir's films and have been since seeing "Picnic at Hanging Rock" decades ago.  "The Last Wave" is unique, and "Witness" and "Master and Commander" are watchable again and again.  But my all time favorite of his is "Fearless", starring Jeff Bridges.  For years I brooded about why it didn't get nominated for best picture, with only Rosie Perez was nominated as supporting actress.  I think Bridges should have won for this role, but he wasn't even nominated.  I finally received some satisfaction when he won for "Crazy Heart", though he should have for "True Grit", "The Contender" and "The Fabulous Baker Boys" or even "Starman".  Maybe he makes acting look too easy, or he can't shake the "Dude" from "The Big Lebowski".  It's always a mystery to me why the rest of the world doesn't agree with my taste, but there you have it.

"Fearless" is about a man who is in a horrific airplane accident, and survives unscathed and leads many others to safety.  If you are about to fly, don't watch this movie.  This crash is believable, capital B.  He is in a strange kind of shock afterwards.  His best friend and architect partner was sitting next to him, but Bridge's guy moved to comfort an unaccompanied boy as the plane descends rapidly.  That saves his life, and his guilt over surviving is also in the mix.  The boy becomes obcessed with Bridge's character, and causes his own son to be jealous.  His wife (Isabella Rosselini) is hurt and later angry because he won't talk about the experience.  He connects with a fellow passenger (Perez) who has lost her toddler son and is practically catatonic with grief.  They become best pals, and his sense of omnipotence comforts her.  There is a scene where he proves to her she could not have kept the child in her arms due to velocity and gravity.  It's one of the greatest scenes about how we are powerless to save those we love that I have ever watched.  Her spouse and his become jealous, but we see that they are in a different, parallel universe after such a trauma.  His partner's wife and his own pressure him to lie to the insurance people and he is coping with the fact that he saw him beheaded.  He cannot speak.  His shock and grief are beyond words. 

Now when I see this film I think of 9/11, but it was made long before.  The power of the film is that it seems to come from a place of deep, profound understanding of what tragedy, loss, grief and slow re-engagement with life look like.  Rafael Yglesias wrote the novel upon which the film is based, and his writing is excellent.  That helps.  But the director, cinematographer and actors bring the story alive.  Bridges is incandescent in his delusion, his heartbreak and courage.  Perez is his match.  She embodies the grieving mother so well that she incarnates the universal experience of losing your child.  Yet this film is not depressing.  It shows us the healing process that allows most of us to embrace life again, perhaps more fiercely, after losing a loved one.  A great film.