Honest work

Rating: 5/10 (19 January 2015)

United 93 is OK. I was not interested in watching a movie that told the story of the "fourth hijacked plane of 9/11" since this is not what I expect from a movie. Actually, for "very serious events" such as acts of war involving many civilian death, I'd rather watch a good documentary that doesn't have to chose between angles and can expand those that are spiralling away from action itself.
The real story of United 93 is pretty simple, alas. Paul Greengrass does a great job of putting in the perspective of that fateful day. Now the real story is pretty lame in terms of action and it is distressing to sit through what happened on this flight. People were brave, but mostly because the terrorists were unlucky departure was delayed thus the shock factor vanished gradually as people got time to phone and understand the big picture.
I don't feel this adds much to the story, on the other hand there was no telling a different story. And I don't think movies should just be made to entertain the masses. Maybe the victims family appreciated the homage, but as a movie it has the same value as a wikipedia entry. I would even say it is less gripping because all is shown and you have little legroom to imagine how it looks like, hence less power to imagine yourself in that plane.