United 93 (C- or 2/4 stars)
'United 93', a docudrama written & directed by Paul Greengrass, is a real-time account of the one & only hijacked plane on 9/11 that failed to meet its' destination. While there's a huge focus on the flight controllers and their plight, the film 'attempts' to show how courageous the passengers & crew members were to prevent Flight 93 from taking out the Pentagon. The film has the liberty to 'say' this, though there is no proof (to my knowledge) that these unfortunate people did anything but panic & try to save, first and foremost, their own lives! Screw the Pentagon. Is it logical of them to want to save their own lives? Of course. Is their story horrific & sad? Yes. Is it heroic? Hardly. Cockpit recordings & random phone calls can suggest that these people may have had a hand in taking down the plane. But we'll never know the finite reason why the plane crashed. This is where, for me, the intent & tagline of the movie (depicting heroes) completely fails.
The film starts & there are glimpses of terrorists going through the motions of what they will attempt to accomplish on 9/11. Then we see a bustling Newark Airport. From here, 'til about an hour into the film, all we see are various National flight controllers patrolling the skies. Airline lingo and inconsequential dialogue litter the screen. Hundreds of nameless faces jibber-jabber about reasons why certain United and American airplanes aren't responding. What I learned is how befuddled and pathetic we were to react to potential hijack follow-through procedures. But I digress. Next, we are shown the barrage of passengers & what kind of people they may be (the businessman, the wife, the teenage girl, the elderly couple, etc). Within the confines of the movie, it is impossible to truly care for them as characters because we learn nothing about them. And finally, in the last 40 minutes, we witness a fictional recreation of the drama on the plane.
Using the nauseating camera movement method of making us feel like we're on the character's shoulders, Paul Greengrass goes at lengths to make us feel like we are a part of every aspect of the film. Do I respect the attempt? Yes. Is the outcome as erratic & irritating as his attempt to create the similar effect from 'The Bourne Supremacy'? Yup. Acting wise, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. Who are these characters? How bad are these actors? I suppose it's not their fault that they unsuccessfully try to compel us viewers when they have no back story to convince us of ... anything.
You either completely love or completely hate this type of movie; there is no middle ground. I understand why 'some' people may find this film to be riveting, honest & moving. The 'subject matter' is riveting, but the execution of human emotion is entirely absent here. 'United 93' comes in the wake of an incident that befell our nation less than 5 yrs. ago. Where is the moral center of this film? Also, there are no subplots; there's no exposition, and no character development. This is not Titanic, or Pearl Harbor, or any other fictionalized account of an actual event, with a love story sprinkled throughout. What you see is what you get. While this is film is stark, uber-realistic, edited well, & terrifying, it doesn't make for superb storytelling or a beneficial movie-going experience. What can you get out of this film if you feel that it doesn't do an ample job of painting its' characters as heroes? Absolutely nothing. Without subplots, exposition, or character development (any fictionalized accounts are welcome), there is nothing for us to fall back on.
While I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen ... why would anyone want to see this film a 2nd time? We know the history, but where's the story? It is a cold, depressing movie that highlights an inevitable end. And it is depressing that these random strangers were forced to try to save themselves from these terrorist monsters. This movie will strike a chord with plenty of people, but I would not recommend it. All of this is the reason why I held off on seeing it for so long. Are these people brave? I suppose there was enough time up in the air to concoct a plan to destroy these terrorists before they killed one-and all. But that is human nature. No one wants to die. I accept that line of thinking. But this movie does nothing to convince me that they were out-and-out 'heroes'. Were they (like the other three planes/World Trade Center/Pentagon) in the wrong place at the wrong time? Absolutely. THAT is the message I find in 'United 93'; not some all-righteous message which provides the obliging excuse to make yet another epic, heroic wartime movie at the expense of these poor people's (and their families) lives. 'United 93' fails to inspire, it just makes me feel awful all over again.
The film starts & there are glimpses of terrorists going through the motions of what they will attempt to accomplish on 9/11. Then we see a bustling Newark Airport. From here, 'til about an hour into the film, all we see are various National flight controllers patrolling the skies. Airline lingo and inconsequential dialogue litter the screen. Hundreds of nameless faces jibber-jabber about reasons why certain United and American airplanes aren't responding. What I learned is how befuddled and pathetic we were to react to potential hijack follow-through procedures. But I digress. Next, we are shown the barrage of passengers & what kind of people they may be (the businessman, the wife, the teenage girl, the elderly couple, etc). Within the confines of the movie, it is impossible to truly care for them as characters because we learn nothing about them. And finally, in the last 40 minutes, we witness a fictional recreation of the drama on the plane.
Using the nauseating camera movement method of making us feel like we're on the character's shoulders, Paul Greengrass goes at lengths to make us feel like we are a part of every aspect of the film. Do I respect the attempt? Yes. Is the outcome as erratic & irritating as his attempt to create the similar effect from 'The Bourne Supremacy'? Yup. Acting wise, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. Who are these characters? How bad are these actors? I suppose it's not their fault that they unsuccessfully try to compel us viewers when they have no back story to convince us of ... anything.
You either completely love or completely hate this type of movie; there is no middle ground. I understand why 'some' people may find this film to be riveting, honest & moving. The 'subject matter' is riveting, but the execution of human emotion is entirely absent here. 'United 93' comes in the wake of an incident that befell our nation less than 5 yrs. ago. Where is the moral center of this film? Also, there are no subplots; there's no exposition, and no character development. This is not Titanic, or Pearl Harbor, or any other fictionalized account of an actual event, with a love story sprinkled throughout. What you see is what you get. While this is film is stark, uber-realistic, edited well, & terrifying, it doesn't make for superb storytelling or a beneficial movie-going experience. What can you get out of this film if you feel that it doesn't do an ample job of painting its' characters as heroes? Absolutely nothing. Without subplots, exposition, or character development (any fictionalized accounts are welcome), there is nothing for us to fall back on.
While I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen ... why would anyone want to see this film a 2nd time? We know the history, but where's the story? It is a cold, depressing movie that highlights an inevitable end. And it is depressing that these random strangers were forced to try to save themselves from these terrorist monsters. This movie will strike a chord with plenty of people, but I would not recommend it. All of this is the reason why I held off on seeing it for so long. Are these people brave? I suppose there was enough time up in the air to concoct a plan to destroy these terrorists before they killed one-and all. But that is human nature. No one wants to die. I accept that line of thinking. But this movie does nothing to convince me that they were out-and-out 'heroes'. Were they (like the other three planes/World Trade Center/Pentagon) in the wrong place at the wrong time? Absolutely. THAT is the message I find in 'United 93'; not some all-righteous message which provides the obliging excuse to make yet another epic, heroic wartime movie at the expense of these poor people's (and their families) lives. 'United 93' fails to inspire, it just makes me feel awful all over again.