Excellent faux documentary...

Rating: 7/10 (19 January 2007)

...has yet to stand the test of time, but so long as the sting of 9/11 still tingles beneath the skins of many Americans (and no doubt many non-Americans as well), "United 93" will remain a potent, though perhaps increasingly dated, piece of film-making. Writer/director Paul "Bourne" Greengrass has put together a riveting recreation of the fate of the one hijacked airliner that didn't reach its target on September 11, 2001.
Utilizing a cast of virtually unknown actors along with scores of actual participants in the events of that watershed day, Greengrass lays out a progression toward inevitable tragedy that begins with the terrorists' early morning preparations and ends, as we know it will, with the crash of flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Along the way, he details the breakdown of human systems when confronted with the utterly unexpected, reflecting the breakdown of systems that led to the 9/11 attack in the first place. It makes for fascinating viewing.
I'm somewhat surprised to see that "United 93" has such a high rating here on the IMDb. As of this writing, it places #237 in the Top 250, with a 34.7% "10" rating and 81.5% "7" or better. It's also garnered an unusual 7.8% "1" rating, which I attribute to the highly political nature of the subject matter. Sensitive teenage girls to the side (180 of them gave it a mere aggregate of "5.9"), it would seem that a significant portion of the "United 93" audience was not yet ready for its portrayal of real-life sacrifice, despite the well-publicized approval and support of the families of the dead. Either that or a fair number of aggrieved Muslims slammed it.
Personally, although I don't feel "United 93" has much in the way of repeat viewability (and, yes, Greengrass' DVD commentary is fairly boring), the film still does what it does with great craft and respect for the dead. No one really knows, of course, what happened on board the ill-fated aircraft in those final minutes before it tore itself to pieces across the Pennsylvania countryside, but Greengrass' version rings true, leaving his audience inspired by the strength of human determination in the face of certain death. We never really get to know individuals in the story all that well, but we are nevertheless drawn into their predicament inexorably, ending up rooting for them to transcend history and survive the day. I was also glad to see that Greengrass avoided demonizing the terrorists, who were, after all, little more than willing, though horribly deluded, pawns in a high stakes game of realpolitik.
It should be noted (if it hasn't been somewhere on this board already) that the documentary included on the DVD release, "United 93: The Families and the Film," is very worthy viewing in its own right. It is, in fact, more emotionally engaging than the film itself. Make no mistake, though; "United 93" packs a powerful punch, but more so by pulling us back to that surreal day with its you-are-there storytelling rather than invitation to empathetic sorrow.
At any rate, it remains to be seen if "United 93" will maintain its position in the IMDb Top 250 as new viewers rate it from a greater and greater temporal distance from the events it depicts. Ultimately, it's a fine piece of film-making, fully deserving of all the awards it has won and will win. Unless you're one of those "it's too soon" folks, "United 93" is requisite viewing, if only to understand how the human spirit can remain triumphant in the face of its own inevitable destruction.