I was sitting at work in the Miami-Dade Elections department when it all happened. I was shocked when I was first told about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center, but it didn't occur to me that it could be a terrorist attack. I figured a small plane flew too low, something like that. Then I heard that a second plane hit, and that was when, like most people, I knew that something scary was happening. The crashes were deliberate, and we were being attacked. I tried to go online to get more information, but with so many other people trying to do the same thing, it was useless. There were rumors of more hijackings, but when it was confirmed that a plane crashed into the Pentagon, I truly felt fear. I always considered the Pentagon to be impenetrable. To me, it was an intimidating structure where our government got together to decide whose asses we'd kick when we were messed with. Soon after the Pentagon attack, there was an announcement throughout the 25-story building I worked in that we were all to be evacuated.
My mind was racing during the drive home. I felt sadness, fear, and anger. When I finally got home, I quickly turned on the TV, and while watching the images on TV, the fear slowly began to fade away. I still felt a lot of sadness, but more than anything, I felt anger. Eventually, they mentioned a plane crashing near Shanksville, Pennsylvania (about 150 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.), and they showed footage of the wreckage. I think that everybody knew instantly that it was one of the hijacked planes, and that something went wrong with the terrorists' plans during that flight. On that horrible day, it felt good that we had at least something to latch onto that we could call a victory of sorts. Everybody on that flight died, but it was obvious that the crash prevented what could have been an even bigger tragedy, not to mention the psychological ramifications of having yet another American landmark being destroyed. Still, the anger I felt remained. That day, I wanted to join the military and be a part of the retaliation, dropping bombs on everybody responsible. Hell, even if they were only partially responsible, or even if they were just friends with those responsible. I wanted revenge badly, I wanted somebody to pay the price.
I'm not of the belief that it's too soon for a movie like "United 93." Sure, it might be too soon for some people, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's too soon for everybody else. It isn't too soon for me. It would be one thing if it was a cheesy disaster flick set around 9/11, with "cool" shots of the planes crashing into the towers, but "United 93" is a movie that honors and respects the heroes of that flight. It's in no way exploitive, and at no point did I think that the movie was made to simply capitalize on the tragedy. Call me naive, but watching the movie, I truly felt like the purpose of the film was to pay tribute to the passengers of that flight. In fact, Universal is donating 10 percent of the movie's first 3-day gross to the Flight 93 Memorial Fund.
There were two moments in "United 93" that really got to me, and based on the reaction of the others in the movie theater, they felt the same way. The first was when we saw (through stock footage) the second plane hitting the World Trade Center. At that moment, everyone in the theater was stunned, and I even heard a couple of shrieks. Even though we'd seen it countless times before, for some reason, that was the moment that seemed to place everyone back to that day.
The second moment of the film that got to me was when the passengers fought back. Seeing them charge forward finally gave me a tiny bit of the catharsis I'd been waiting for since the day of the attack. While watching the film, I HATED the terrorists on that flight. They were portrayed as humans rather than monsters, but I wanted to see them destroyed. When the passengers fought back, I wanted to see violence to the extreme. I wanted to see a brutal, savage beating, with terrorist blood squirting on the walls, terrorist eyeballs being gouged out, and terrorist noses being chewed off. Instead, there was complete and utter chaos, and even though the chaos has moments of violence, it's so chaotic that it's hard to know what's going on, which is probably exactly what it was like on that flight. Still, the scene where they fight back is a great one, and even if we don't get the happy Hollywood ending, it's impossible not to feel an incredible amount of respect for the passengers of that flight.
"United 93" was written and directed by Paul Greengrass ("Bloody Sunday" and "The Bourne Supremacy"), and he did an excellent job with this film. He places the audience right there, living the moment with everyone in the movie, even doing it so that the events unfold in real time. It's interesting to me that Greengrass wrote and directed this kinda movie because he's not an American. He's from England, but he wrote and directed a movie that Americans can be proud of. Seriously, when was the last time a film from Hollywood made us feel proud to be American? I take my hat off to Paul Greengrass.
As for the acting, it's a cast of non-celebrities, but they all do amazing work. The standouts to me are Cheyenne Jackson as "Mark Bingham," Peter Hermann (who I recognized from episodes of "Law & Order: SVU") as "Jeremy Glick," Christian Clemenson as "Thomas E. Burnett Jr.," and Trish Gates as "Sandy Bradshaw." Probably the most surprising performance was by Ben Sliney, who plays himself, the man in charge at the FAA national center. He was the one who decided to shut down all air traffic in the United States. He was great in the movie. There were actually quite a few people playing themselves, and there isn't a weak link in the bunch. The acting was excellent all around.
Although I can't say that watching "United 93" was a wonderful experience, it's a great movie, and I'm glad I saw it. It's a very powerful film made by a guy at the top of his game, and it's the first movie I've seen this year that I KNOW will be in my list of top 10 films of 2006. I urge all of you to see it.
Scale of 1-10: 9