The Burr in the Burgh

“Praise for United 93”
May 1, 2006
From Darren Eliker

Saturday, my wife and I went to see United 93, a movie better described as ‘long overdue’ as opposed to ‘too soon’. While I understand the angst some folks feel at the anticipation of reliving the horrid events of 9/11, I have very little sympathy with the ‘too soon’ crowd.

If the families of the Flight 93 have already seen it twice, approved of it, and are asking people to go see it, the least one can do in honor of their loved ones is to accommodate that request.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass has done a marvelous job in creating a true tribute to these heroic passengers. Though he calls himself a liberal, I have to give a lot of credit to him for resisting the liberal tendency to view the events through the lens of an agenda, or to comment on them.

Rather, he permits them to have a greater impact by letting the power of the story stand on its own, allowing you the viewer to feel what you wish as the events unfold, without taking political sides.

Greengrass wisely chose actors with no visible profile to play the roles. One remarkable thing is that I can’t even recall any of the passengers’ names being mentioned during the film. Their anonymity is one of the most powerful statements.

I was impressed that we were not given sympathetic back-stories on the terrorists. There is no attempt to soften them or try to understand their actions, as it should be. These were monsters and there is no way around that.

My wife brought extra tissues in preparation for what we believed would be an emotional experience. And since I’m a sap when it comes to tales of heroism, I was glad of her forethought. But we found we didn’t need them.

While we felt the claustrophobic intensity of being crammed into that plane, the emotions we felt during the passengers’ rebellion was not sadness. It was a bit of anger, but anger mixed with a proud sense of, ‘Yeah, this is what Americans do. We fight back.’

It was nice to see United 93 take second at the box office. RV starring Robin Williams beat it, so it’s clear that many people just wanted an easy laugh this weekend. But it had a strong showing and that was something.

So do yourself a favor and see it. In fact, since it’s May 1st, go out and have dinner, see the film, then go shopping and stick a finger in the eye of these ignorant immigration protestors who have no right to make demands on the USA. Instead, celebrate those who capture its true spirit…the brave passengers of United 93.