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September 11, 2008
United 93 (2006)
Should I see it?
Absolutely.


Short Review: A film you simply must see.

United 93

The filmmakers fully understand the gravity of the subject and the sensitivity in which it must be handled. With painstaking accuracy they show us what must be very close to what occurred on the doomed flight that ended in a forced crash in Pennsylvania farmland. The entire film is as real as possible. The actors are not name brands. The tone and feel are reminiscent not of Hollywood but of the reality. None of the actors look like actors, which is important. These people look like regular folk. They have blotchy faces and wrinkled shirts, they are not stunningly handsome and some have paunches. Both in the plane and in the air control centers as well as the offices of the FAA, everyone looks like they actually belong there. This kind of realism is infused in every aspect of the film.

What will be striking to most people is how much it will bring back from that terrible day. The film is careful to keep all historical elements far away from the narrative and dialog. The event is as it was on that day, a unique experience in human history. There is no precedent for what was happening. There was nothing to alert the passengers or the people on the ground that these planes were hijacked and turned into missiles. The passengers at first try to reason that they will land and eventually be allowed to leave. The people on the ground scoff at the idea of a hijacked plane and casually try to recollect when the last instance of a hijacking took place. Even after planes started hitting buildings, we are reminded of the deep confusion of the day. No one in America knew who was doing this, how many times they were going to do it? Who is doing it? Are were we now at war?

For the most part, this film avoids the tedious politicization that has grown from this day. There is a thread of wanting to blame President Bush for inaction however. Constant complaints of being unable to reach the President are heard and at the end we are told that President Bush didn’t give the order to shoot down commercial airlines until after the danger had passed. Without context, this does smell of a shot at what President Bush was doing that day and with the lingering image of the President sitting in that classroom after being told of the first crash rises to the surface. It is vital for people to keep their hindsight in check. This was unprecedented and no one at the time would have done everything correctly. The fact is that even the FAA didn’t know which planes were hijacked and crashed. They sent confused information to the military on which planes were still up in the air. To offer a complaint that the President didn’t authorize the shooting down of commercial airplanes is a weak place to make a stand. If the FAA was still confused on which planes were even in the air what person would start taking shots at planes without an absolute idea of which ones were really a danger? We were caught with our pants firmly affixed around our ankles that day. To pretend we were anything but inept as a result of our complacency is simply daydreaming. People, all people, did their best that day with the information and tools available.

The people on United 93 and the other planes have found a fitting tribute in this film. We get to mildly experience what they had to contend with that morning in this solemn film. Suck it up and go see the film. Like Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan and The Passion of The Christ it is an important piece that demands your attention.


Related Reviews:
Terrorism movies
Dirty War (2004)
Right at Your Door (2006)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Cineopinion
Roger Ebert


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posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 6:00 PM




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