UNITED 93 (2006) 4 stars out of 4. Starring David Alan Bashe, Richard Bekins, Cheyenne Jackson, Lewis Alsamari, J.J. Johnson, Trish Gates, Polly Adams, Opal Alladin, Starla Benford, Nancy McDoniel, Susan Blommaert, Ray Charleson, Christian Clemenson and Liza Colon-Zayas. Director or photography Barry Ackroyd. Music by John Powell. Written and directed by Paul Greengrass. Rated R. Running time: Approx. 111 mins.
United 93 is the first truly memorable movie of 2006.
Writer-director Paul Greengrass has taken the all-too-familiar events of 9/11 and has created an emotionally charged human drama without stooping to melodramatics or sensationalizing.
Greengrass and his team, especially director of photography Barry Ackroyd, have been able to recreate the horror, confusion and chaos of that dread day, not only on the United flight, but in the various traffic control centers ? military and civilian ? where people were helplessly watching events unfold without at first comprehending their scope or intent.
Greengrass uses a documentary-like approach to the story. He is non-judgmental, content to present the events as they happen.
Yet the movie still packs an emotional wallop. Despite knowing the outcome, you get involved in the lives of not only the passengers, but of the hijackers as well.
You sit by helpless as the horrors of that black day unfold, one catastrophe building upon another. Greengrass does not manipulate the situation. You mostly see the World Trade Center in the background on television screens. It is merely a backdrop to the main story.
Greengrass also shies away from any political agenda. He refuses to show the hijackers as cartoonish fanatics. He presents them as religious young men, tentative about their mission; men who exhibit doubt and fear as well as deadly determination. The first scene in the movie is the hijackers in their hotel room, reading the Koran and praying.
A claustrophobic aura surrounds the movie. Very few scenes are outdoors. Most of the action is confined to the various traffic control situation rooms and the cabin and cockpit of Flight 93. we see no exterior shots of the plane in flight. We are trapped in that cabin with the passengers, creating a subconscious connection between us and them.
Despite knowing the tragic finale, you root for the passengers ? hoping beyond hope that they will succeed ? when they decide to rush the hijackers and attempt to retake the cockpit.
Smartly, the cast is comprised of actors we do not immediately recognize. Again, since they look like you and I, the bond between performer and viewer is stronger.
Plus, Greengrass has cast many of the actual traffic control personnel to portray themselves, which heightens the authenticity of his feature.
Many people are critical of this movie without even having seen it. They protest that it too early to make a film depicting this one event, that it exploits a tragedy and that a movie studio is making money off the dead.
To them I say, rubbish. Yes, United 93 is a commercial venture that may or may not make a profit for Greengrass, his associates and its studio. But it is also a reminder ? a tribute ? to how in the darkest of times strangers can come together, forge a bond and willingly sacrifice themselves to save other strangers.
United 93 is tasteful and respectful. It is a cinematic monument, an everlasting remembrance to these valiant passengers.
These people can be afforded no better honor than for you to take a couple of hours to see the movie. And, as you walk out of the theater, to say a prayer and a thank you to the courageous men and women of United 93.
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