Facing Fear
by Noel Qui??ones

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DVD Reviews of Facing Fear

DVD Review: Great Family Movie!
Summary: 5 Stars

DVD Review: a little bit of central american magic
Summary: 3 Stars

DVD Review: FLY ME TO THE MOON
Summary: 5 Stars

DVD Review: What Movie Were They Making?
Summary: 2 Stars

What's wrong with the film is that it doesn't know what it's about...or even what kind of movie it is. On one level, it's a straight-ahead drama of an American pilot forced to land in a storm and how he interacts with the locals, including becoming a father-figure to a boy whose mother is attracted to the pilot, despite her being engaged to a planter on whose property the plane lands. Fine. Good enough for one movie.

But then we get this bearded old man who may or may not be just a local eccentric: he makes hand gestures and the control sticks of the plane move, birds take off, etc. At one point he seemingly turns into a hen! Then we get parts of the plane, after being smashed up, moving of their own volition in response to things the boy says, almost in CHRISTINE fashion. And we get another boy, a sort of rival with the main kid for the attention of a local girl (an annoying addition), who climbs down into an extinct volcano crater, uncovers what he thinks is buried treasure hidden there by the bearded old man, only to unearth a skull that jumps up at him in an obvious CGI effect. All of this adds up to a supernatural tale. Fine. Almost good enough for a different movie.

Put together, though, there are simply too many disparate elements for the thing to work. So I'm pretty sure it was a BOMB and went to video pretty quick. I found my copy at Wal-Mart for $5.50. It was worth it.

DVD Review: Facing boredom
Summary: 2 Stars

"Facing Fear" is the story of a plantation owner's family on a Central American island. The owner is getting married to a woman, Mercedes, and planning to adopt her distant young son Gabriel. Mercedes's husband left her alone with the child, so she considers the fact that a rich man (by the island's standards) wants to take her and her son in a blessing. But Gabriel doesn't see it like that. He sees the owner, Frank, as a substitute father (something he does not want). Then a young aviator's plane crash lands on the island as he is attempting to fly around the world. The pilot, Clay, temporarily shacks up with Frank, Mercedes, and Gabriel as he fixes his plane. Gabriel is initially distant with Clay, but begins to warm up to him. As Clay's plane takes longer and longer to repair, Gabriel and Mercedes become more and more attached to him.

It's a sort of Lifetime, feel-good movie. It had the potential to be a decent film, but it was bogged down with annoying and unintelligent substories. One involved a love triangle between 10 year olds, an island voodoo practitioner, and the plane supposedly speaking to Gabriel. These stories were uninteresting and unentertaining and just held the main storyline back.

Some high points though include a wonderful, subtly moving performace by Talisa Soto as Mercedes and a stoic yet still equally touching performance by Dean Cain as Clay. These two actors deserve better material to work with, though the scenes they had were some of the best the film had to offer.

If you like the sort of movies that have good moral messages, you might want to rent "Facing Fear." Otherwise, my advice would be to stay clear of this one.

Description of Facing Fear

The Flight seems simple and predictable at first, but there are surprises in store; the script doesn't make the obvious choices, and the movie proves emotionally richer than one would expect. Soto in particular gives a subtle and touching performance as the conflicted young mother, and the cast as a whole is sincere and enjoyable. Young children will particularly enjoy it, but their parents may find themselves drawn in as well. --Bret Fetzer

General DVDs

• Genres > Action & Adventure
• Drama > General
• Kids & Family > Adventure
• Drama