Clear focus: what happened on the ground, and what possibly happened on-board

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2006)

I watched United 93 on opening day Friday. Not many people in the theater, despite all the controversy and the media talking about the movie non-stop. There are countless 'Is it too soon?' discussions on TV all the time.
Anyway, the film was well made - focused only on the flight, against the background of the events of 9/11. It was a like a camera happened to be observing the incidents as they happened. No flag waving patriotism, no jihadist anti-American rhetoric from terrorist organizations - just a re-enactment of what happened that day.
Many of us watched NYC, The Pentagon that day. I kept thinking back to how it was that morning. The jammed phone lines, the incoming calls, the images, the chaos.... My roommate had left from Logan airport just that morning, from the gate next to one of the hijacked planes.
And the theories, the rumors, the controversies... days and months after. Especially about flights 93 and 77. Were they shot down? Did the passengers really save the White House/ US Capitol by bringing United 93 down? 'Let's Roll' is barely heard. I recall particularly how people stopped being sympathetic to Lisa Beamer, after she became a media princess.
The film has none of this. It shows what happens on the plane right from boarding/taxi among passengers, and hijackers on this particular flight. It shows events on the ground among air traffic controllers, and NORAD in response to the attacks. That's it. It ends in abrupt fashion, because there can't be any more to show.