An honest and powerful film

Rating: 9/10 (10 May 2006)

I was deeply touched by United 93. I had already read the reviews before I saw the film and that may have diluted the experience just a bit. Still it was an emotional, powerful experience for me. I was crying just as the people were boarding the plane, others going through their routine activities, like just another day. They were so innocent; they did not know that their lives would soon change forever or end.
This film is not just about the passengers aboard United 93. It is also about the air traffic controllers, because they went through the whole thing along with the flights. Imagine sitting there trying to guide the flights to safety and finding out that two of them had just crashed into WTC. The frustration of the red tape was shown very well. The passengers of United 93 came across as heroes at the end.
Nothing was overacted. The power of this movie is in its honesty and understatedness. I read that some of the characters were played by real people that went through that experience. Normally when we go to movies, it is fiction, unless it is a documentary. United 93 is not a documentary. It is a tragic story of a tragic day in our lives- one that changed us forever in a way.
I am surprised that United 93 is not doing as well as I had expected at the box office. Everyone in this country (USA) needs to see this movie, lest we forget what happened on that fateful day.
One last thing- why did I not give it a 10? I thought the end was just a bit less effective. I don't mean that they needed to show the plane crash; we all know how it ended. The movie needed just a little something uplifting at the end, but that is just my opinion. This is a powerful movie, made with sincerity, and it does not manipulate the audience. I loved it.