Nauseated by the shaky camera work...

Rating: 6/10 (5 June 2006)

I give this movie a 6 based on the fact that despite what was otherwise good solid work by the producers and actors involved, I found it ultimately unwatchable because of motion sickness brought on by the camera style.
The story itself seemed true to all the reports I had heard over the years concerning the incident, and the dialogue and acting seemed very solid. I was watching with interest up to about the halfway point when I got nauseated thanks to the shaky camera work.
Being a movie enthusiast, I know this style of cinematography has been popular for about 15 years. I first noticed it used on the NYPD Blue TV series. I believe that this "shaky" style has its place- it can be effective to create a frantic mood when filming action scenes such as those found in one of my favorite movie series, 'The Bourne Identity/Supremacy'. (Although a couple of scenes in 'Supremacy' left me a little queasy, they were quickly over with and that particular film settled down again where I could watch it).
However, I see no good reason to use this style when you are filming a group of people in a flight control center where nobody is getting body-slammed or shot or punched in the nose. It actually loses its effect when over-employed and creates another effect: nausea.
I never remember getting sick watching NYPD Blue, but my TV is not 60 feet wide, either. The girl I took to the movie was also made sick by this, and while she and I were out in the lobby recovering we could hear from the ladies restroom the sounds of another moviegoer losing her groceries.
I would have liked to have seen the last half of the movie but the constant shaking of the camera made it impossible. I may be one of the few that it affected so badly but I know I was not the only one.