Fearless(1993–)

Submitted by Julio M

Oscar Nominee : Best Supporting Actress (Rosie Perez)
Short pooper
Max (Jeff Bridges) almost dies from an anaphylactic reaction to a strawberry. Being resuscitated by Laura (Isabella Rossellini) brings him back from the dissociative state he had been experiencing as a result from the airplane crash.

Longer version
In the aftermath of the airplane crash Max survived, aside from being physically unscathed, he has developed post-traumatic stress disorder that manifests in an altered emotional state where he believes himself invincible and willing to embrace experiences that either he would have feared to attempt in the past or just died from. The first of these is reacquainting with an old school friend, Alison (Debra Monk), at a restaurant, in front of whom he tries strawberries -something he had always been anaphylactic to- with no apparent reaction.

He, then, against the advice of the airline, accepts another airplane ticket to return home, after fending off the questioning of the FBI. The airline’s psychiatrist, Dr. Perlman (John Turturro), sits next to him, observes his behaviour and tries to prod him for information, to which Max reacts rudely. Upon arriving home, his wife Laura perceives the emotional distance in him and he is hailed as a local hero and dubbed “The Good Samaritan” by the media, because of what was perceived as his being calm and comforting other passengers while the plane was going down -a young boy whom he helped during the crisis, Byron (Daniel Cerny), thanks him publicly, which boasts the image largely perceived of him-. In turn, Max, in his newfound invulnerability, starts drawing abstract images of the incident and does other risky feats such as recklessly crossing oncoming traffic and standing at the edge of the rooftop of a high-rise building.

Perlman, seeing this boost of confidence, advises Max to meet with fellow passenger and survivor Carla (Rosie Perez), who was desperately holding on to her infant son, “Bubble”, as per the recommendation of a flight attendant, resulting in her surviving but the child getting killed in the crash. She is now dealing with severe emotional trauma and Survivor’s Guilt, as she feels she did not protect him enough to prevent his death.

They bond over their shared experience, much to the chagrin of their respective partners -Carla’s husband, Manny (Benicio Del Toro); and Laura-; Max helps Carla overcome her sense of guilt and even goes as far as crashing his car with them both on board while she held onto a metallic tool box, just to prove the point that she was not going to be physically able to save “Bubble”, given the circumstances.

Meanwhile, pending the lawsuit brought upon the airline, Max’s attorney, Steven (Tom Hulce), encourages him to exaggerate his testimony, which would result in more money on his favour, to which Max reluctantly agrees, with the intention of helping Nan (Deirdre O’Connell), the grieving widow of his business partner Jeff (John De Lancie), who was lost in the crash.

In the end, a substantial settlement is reached in favour of the survivors and Steven comes to Max’s house to celebrate with them, bringing a fruit basket that contains strawberries. Once again, Max tries one; this time around, however, he goes into anaphylactic shock. A horrified Laura fights to resuscitate him, but it looks like he will not make it, as he is seen relieving some images from the plane crash and walking through a long tunnel illuminated by white light -signifying Death-. However, at the last second, he resists passing over and springs back to life while, at the same time, he breaks down in tears, indicating he has overcome his own dissociation with reality and has re-embraced his connection with love, life and his family.