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'United 93' the 'best film nobody will want to see' |
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Written by Knight Ridder
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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SHORT REVIEW
"UNITED 93"
3 stars [out of 4]
Gregg Henry, David Rasche, Denny Dillon
Rated: R for language, and some intense sequences of terror and violence
1 hour 30 minutes
IN DEPTH
by Robert W. Butler
Knight Ridder
Future generations may regard Paul Greengrass’ “United 93” as one of the finest docudramas ever.
For now, though, it’s likely to be the best film nobody wants to see.
Many feel that the wounds of Sept. 11 are still fresh, that it’s too painful to be reminded of what we endured.
I can only respond with my own experience. I approached a recent critics’ screening of “United 93” with dread and left the theater sad and shaken, yes, but also with an unexpected sense of triumph.
The men and women on that doomed flight fought back, and in doing so saved our Capitol building and those inside it from destruction.
We’ll never know exactly what went on aboard that airplane bound from Newark to San Francisco. But Greengrass’ screenplay is probably as realistic and accurate treatment as we’ll see.
Shot in a semi-documentary style (handheld camera, natural lighting) and performed by a largely no-name cast, the film begins with the sound of a prayer — in Arabic. We’re in a Newark hotel where four Middle Eastern men are performing their morning devotions. The hijackers.
A typical Hollywood film would develop back stories in an effort to make the characters more familiar to audiences. But Greenglass and his cast are moving too quickly for that kind of dramatic cliche. We don’t even learn the names of most of these people, although they’ve been wisely cast to reflect specific looks that make them easier to identify.
Mostly the film’s early passages are filled with the banality of everyday life. People make cell phone calls and fiddle with laptops. Cabin attendants trade comments about being exhausted and which one of them has a crush on a hunky ground crew guy. Everybody ignores the pre-flight spiel about emergency exits and flotation devices.
“United 93,” which unfolds in more or less real time, is remarkable for the degree of suspense it generates given that we already know how its ends. And the cast is uniformly excellent, which is to say that we never see anyone acting. In fact, many of the air traffic controllers who followed that day’s grim events on their radar screens play themselves in the film.
There’s nothing that smells of editorializing here — the film doesn’t even try to make the hijackers villainous. Acts of violence take place just out of camera range.
By sticking to the facts, Greengrass has created a surprisingly effective tribute to the heroism of common people and a cautionary tale that demands to be seen. And you can’t help leaving “United 93” without asking whether we’ll be ready if something like Sept. 11 should happen again. | Only registered users can write comments.
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