Max Klein (Jeff Bridges) survives a plane crash and emerges a changed man. He reunites a baby with the mother and walks away from the crash. He drives off to drop in on long lost friend. He feels invincible and eats strawberries while being deadly allergic. When the FBI finds him, he insists on flying back to San Francisco. Everybody is overjoyed. However he is distant from his wife Laura (Isabella Rossellini) and son Jonah. His business partner Jeff Gordon (John de Lancie) was killed in the crash. Lawyer Brillstein (Tom Hulce) wants him to exaggerate for Jeff's wife Nan (Deirdre O'Connell)'s settlement. Airline therapist Dr. Bill Perlman (John Turturro) is working with the survivors. Max becomes a media hero. Unable to cope, Perlman connects him to grief stricken survivor Carla Rodrigo (Rosie Perez) and her callous husband Manny (Benicio Del Toro) after the death of her baby in the crash.
I like the idea and I find the first act rather fascinating. Walking away from the crash is such a great opening. However I got a bit tired of Jeff Bridges' zen master performance and I found his character rather annoying. I want to find some insight or some revelation. Instead, he's a bit of a douchey socialpath. He needs a few more explosive moments. It's great that he has a panic attack after Nan puts him in his place. I also find the compensation discussion interesting. It could have added more of that into the movie. Rosie Perez plays a depressed angry character. It gets a bit depressing to watch her. It is hard to get my hands around these characters. It's as if the movie wants the audience to join Max but I can't completely get into it.
I like the idea and I find the first act rather fascinating. Walking away from the crash is such a great opening. However I got a bit tired of Jeff Bridges' zen master performance and I found his character rather annoying. I want to find some insight or some revelation. Instead, he's a bit of a douchey socialpath. He needs a few more explosive moments. It's great that he has a panic attack after Nan puts him in his place. I also find the compensation discussion interesting. It could have added more of that into the movie. Rosie Perez plays a depressed angry character. It gets a bit depressing to watch her. It is hard to get my hands around these characters. It's as if the movie wants the audience to join Max but I can't completely get into it.