Review of United 93 (2006) by Justin Z — 04 Dec 2014

This is a true example of art imitating life. Paul Greengrass' documentary style approach, with handheld digital cameras and quick edits, creates a fascinating level of authenticity. The film is not attempting to be the Hollywood version of the event. It wants to paint a picture of things as close to how they are as possible. There are no stars in the cast, no fancy cinematography, no thrilling Hollywood score. It wants to be reverent to a terribly tragic but heroic event in American history.

The dialogue has no flourishes or snap. Everyone speaks like an average person would, with no one personality taking control. The cast is uniformly excellent, combining unknowns with real life people to immerse the audience into the scenarios. The editing has a velocity that never skips over the emotion but keeps the plot continually moving. The score is subtle and brooding, building itself steadily to the inevitable conclusion. Everything feels genuine in the production and immersed me in a way like few films have.

It is surely one of the most harrowing and haunting films of the last decade but that is why it is so fantastic. You care about these people. You care about this event. You cross your fingers that the fantastically handled final sequence will end differently even though you know it won't. There have not been many 9/11 movies, but for being one of the first this still sets the precedent as the best one to date!