How can one not dread seeing United 93, the dramatic recreation of the terrible events aboard that fateful hijacked plane on 9/11? When even the trailer can bring one to the brink of tears, how heart-wrenching will the two-hour movie be? The answer from this corner: very. There has been a great deal of debate about whether filmmakers should be making movies based on the tragedy at all in that it's not respectful to the families of the victims or that it's just too soon. Both are valid concerns.
Carefully taking into account the first concern, Paul Greengrass, the writer-director of United 93, interviewed numerous family members of victims as he wrote his script, and the movie is nothing if not respectful. It's still deeply disturbing, of course—especially its uncanny use of the standard Hollywood disaster movie as a boilerplate. And United 93 is, in essence, a true-life disaster picture that unfolds just like The Day After Tomorrow, The Towering Inferno, Independence Day and all those clichéd Airport movies. Isn't that creepy?
We go into these movies knowing that terrible circumstances are about to befall the innocent and the guilty alike. Some will survive, some will not ( and we get to play God and place bets on the outcome ) . But this isn't Jake Gyllenhaal and his pals waiting for dad Dennis Quaid to save them and wondering who will freeze to death next. This is real life and, by knowing the outcome in advance, every carefully chosen shot ( the terrorists driving past a 'God Bless America' sign on their way to the airport ) , every casual line ( 'It's a beautiful day for flying' the pilot says to the co-pilot ) , and every mundane gesture takes on tragic meaning. And, unlike standard disaster picture foreshadowing, we know that everyone's going to die ( which was enough to give me a bad case of the shakes throughout the picture ) .
Luckily, Greengrass doesn't try to hype the events or massage the facts ( although he did have the actors improvise some scenes based on their character studies ) . Nor does he try to manage your responses ( except for a brief moment just before the credits when the music adds one of those 'haunting' little girl 'la la la's' to the underscoring—it's unnecessary ) . There's also no upside, no moral superiority that kicks in, no satisfying 11th-hour catharsis, and no Steve McQueen or Paul Newman to sum up what we've seen at the fade. There is simply dread from beginning to end, and it is economically shot, acted and presented.
This straightforward approach is augmented by Greengrass' decision to use mainly unknown actors mixed with non-professionals ( e.g., Ben Sliney, the actual manager of the FAA, who plays himself ) . There's no star wattage to contend with or break the stride of the lean storytelling. We learn what we need to in order to move the story along. ( Mark Bingham, the gay hero from the flight is not identified as such, for example, and doesn't need to be. ) In many ways, A Night to Remember, the 1958 film recreation of the sinking of the Titanic, most closely resembles United 93. That movie also presented the real facts methodically without the need to heighten them and also used little-known actors to tell its story. But naturally, much of the power of the 9/11 tragedy comes from its recent occurrence.
Which brings up that other concern—how soon is too soon? Hollywood waited over a decade before bringing out To Here from Eternity, which used fictional characters to tell the story of Pearl Harbor. It's not even five years since 9/11. After watching the film, however, a lot of questions that have been lying dormant about the events before and after came charging into the light. They're the same questions that a lot of other gay liberals ought to be asking about the motives of this lame-duck President and his avaricious cronies.
So, a lot comes to mind after leaving what is 'just a movie,' which alleviated concerns for its existence in the first place for me. Actually, it's not a moment too soon, I think. Seeing United 93, as hard and horrible as it was, reminded me that I think we've allowed ourselves to go off course as a nation; that in some ways we're still numb with grief, still stunned that this could have happened to us on our turf on a bright, sunshine-filled day. The movie's, unsurprisingly, going to be a tough sell, but it might help to purge some of that embedded grief—or remind some that it's still there.
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Laurence Fishburne has found a role for himself that finally frees him from the weight of those know-it-all stentorian roles that Hollywood loves to cast him in. He dragged down the Matrix movies for me and sank them like a stone with every one of his carefully weighted, 'Are. You. Ready. Neo?' queries. Fishburne has produced Akeelah and the Bee, the story of an 11-year-old Black girl ( Keke Palmer ) from the projects of L.A., who, against the odds, finds herself competing in the national spelling bee. He's given himself the secondary part of her inflexible tutor, hiding secrets behind his stern demeanor, a role that at first requires more of that imperious disdain but one that is slowly fleshed out and given a lot more depth.
The movie is a classic underdog story ( and a deeply satisfying one ) in which all the emotionally damaged characters are inspired and healed by the quest for excellence that Akeelah has set for herself. ( She's a tough, no-nonsense kid not afraid of hard work and Palmer handles the challenge of the part with the eerie dexterity and intuitiveness exhibited by many young actors. ) These include Akeelah's mother, played by Angela Bassett, in a quasi re-teaming with Fishburne 13 years after What's Love Got to Do with It? Bassett displays the patented fireworks for which she's known, too, but the part gives her a chance to show some range and some softness as well. Both she and Fishburne are marvelous to watch.
The theme of the spelling bee is a great premise for what is both a great Cinderella tale with a lot of heart and a white-knuckle suspense story. This may be one reason why the contest has been the subject of several movies in the last few years. With Akeelah and the Bee, writer and director Doug Atchinson has got a great family film on his hands—and any movie that offers good, three-dimensional roles to the woefully underused Fishburne and Bassett is worth learning to spell for.
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