Movie Reviews
In the moments before United 93 began, I surveyed the theatre to see how many people were there. I was struck not by the amount of people, but by the many different cultures of people who were there. An upper class white family sat in front of me. A large black family sat behind me. And a family that looked to be from the Middle East sat a couple rows up. Later, I saw that all of us spoke perfect English with no hint of accents. Wed all come to see a great movie. We were all Americans.
How appropriate was this realization at a movie like United 93? I mean, not since The Patriot in my memory has a movie so unabashedly, profoundly, and realistically celebrated American bravery and resourcefulness.
Beginning with the boarding of passengers on United Flight 93 on September 11, the film chronicles every last agonizing moment of that terrible day. From the terrorists packing and saying their last prayers, to two planes slamming into the World Trade Center, to the passengers realization that they very well may die today, United 93 is meticulously told with a documentarians expert eye.
English director Paul Greengrass (who has a knack for chronicling other countrys national tragedies) shows us just about everything. But dont get the idea that this is some kind of gore-fest, no, the violence is staccato, graphic, and shown only when absolutely necessary.
Greengrass started out as a documentary filmmaker and all of his films thus far have greatly benefited from it. United 93 shakes and rattles with the use of handheld cameras, all evoking the feeling that were watching this happen for real. This technique is terrifyingly effective especially in United 93 because we all saw this stuff unfold as it really happened. We were watching when the plane struck the second tower and we were watching when they reported a fourth plane missing its target. Everything that is presented here is startling in its visualization and clocked perfectly with the real time-frame of the events. With each moment, youll be remembering the precise place you were when that event took place, all the while knowing that while we were fearing sky-rocketing gas prices, these people were fearing that their plane would hit the capital if they didnt do something in time.
United 93 has no triumphant speeches. It has no comedic relief. It has no happy conclusion. Greengrass is sure to bypass all that. Instead, United 93 is blunt with its imagery. Consider the stark, powerful scene where Greengrass and his editors inter-cut between passengers saying the Lords Prayer and the hijackers chanting from the Koran.
And then theres the haunting moment when about ten of the passengers finally carry out their plan to take back the plane. Their actions are crude and graphic, but that doesnt mean they arent brave and sublime too.
Of course, what actually happened on that flight will never be known, but the films speculation how events unfolded is, simply put, real. It looks real. It feels real. Nothing is commercialized. Not even real-life lines like, Were going to do something, or Lets roll. Yes, the film has the appropriate characters saying them, but they're said in anticipation and resolve and pure fear. Not something youd see a Hollywood action star doing. Greengrass avoids all theatrics by even casting some of the real air-traffic controllers and airline employees as themselves.
As the lights go down right before movies like this start, I always ask myself if I really want to see it. With horror movies, thats asked simply out of fear that the gore might just finally be too much for me. In those cases, I just want to see them. Theres no literal need for it. United 93, on the other hand, needs to be seen by all the people whove forgotten why America is where it is. And soon. ****