Knight at the Movies ARCHIVES
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A real life disaster film and a classic underdog story
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, 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. Many of these family members have stated support for the film, citing the compassion of
Greengrass and his associates and the movie is nothing if not respectful. It’s still deeply disturbing, of course and the one thing
that I didn’t expect was what I found most unsettling about the film: its uncanny use of the standard Hollywood disaster movie as its
boilerplate. United 93 is in essence is 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 not. But this isn’t Jake Gyllenhaal and his pals holing up in the New York public library waiting for dad Dennis Quaid to save
them and wondering who will freeze to death next. There’s no Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters or Gene Hackman climbing the
Christmas tree to try to get to safety offering one the psychological satisfaction of laying odds on who will survive as in The Poseidon
Adventure. 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 (that 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 (though he did have the actors improvise some scenes
based on their character studies). Nor does Greengrass 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, no Steve McQueen or Paul Newman to sum up what
we've seen at the fade. There is simply dread from beginning to end, economically shot, acted and presented.
This straightforward approach is augmented by Greengrass’ decision to use mainly unknown actors mixed with non-professionals
(Ben Sliney, the actual manager of the FAA plays himself, for instance). There’s no star wattage to contend with or break the stride
of the lean storytelling, no Tom Cruise to plead intensely with the other passengers to join him or Mel Gibson to go mano a mano
with the terrorists. We learn just about as much as we need to about these folks in order to move the story further.
Mark Bingham, the publicist who was on his way to usher at a friend’s wedding in San Francisco is not identified as gay and in this
context it’s not important. Until events overtake them, he is just another passenger (ironically, the last to board). 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 it 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. We’re still stuck with the
lame duck President on whose watch this happened in the first place, one of the terrorist conspirators is on trial as the film opens
and there are still many unknowns about what happened (so many that a friend of mine is convinced that the entire thing was
engineered so Bush & Co. could get their money making war).
After watching the film what is clearer is that as a nation we have yet to come to grips with the long-term effects the tragedy is
having on our lives. How else to explain this national torpor, this indifference to each fresh scandal this group of corporatists
masquerading as politicians visits on us each day? Why have we settled for this meanie numbskull and his avarice loving cronies?
Allowed this encroaching disregard for common decency, the law, overt sexual discrimination, and barely disguised fondness for
torture? How many times can this President justify the actions of his administration using the events of 9/11 as his excuse?
That’s a lot for a movie, “just a movie,” to leave one thinking about. So I guess I’ve just answered that last concern for myself.
Seeing United 93, as hard and horrible as it was, has reminded me that we’ve allowed ourselves to go off course as a nation. I think
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 going to be a tough sell – no surprise – but it might help to purge some of that deep down grief. Or remind some
that it’s still there.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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 evidenced 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 knuckled
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.
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, 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. Many of these family members have stated support for the film, citing the compassion of
Greengrass and his associates and the movie is nothing if not respectful. It’s still deeply disturbing, of course and the one thing
that I didn’t expect was what I found most unsettling about the film: its uncanny use of the standard Hollywood disaster movie as its
boilerplate. United 93 is in essence is 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 not. But this isn’t Jake Gyllenhaal and his pals holing up in the New York public library waiting for dad Dennis Quaid to save
them and wondering who will freeze to death next. There’s no Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters or Gene Hackman climbing the
Christmas tree to try to get to safety offering one the psychological satisfaction of laying odds on who will survive as in The Poseidon
Adventure. 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 (that 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 (though he did have the actors improvise some scenes
based on their character studies). Nor does Greengrass 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, no Steve McQueen or Paul Newman to sum up what
we've seen at the fade. There is simply dread from beginning to end, economically shot, acted and presented.
This straightforward approach is augmented by Greengrass’ decision to use mainly unknown actors mixed with non-professionals
(Ben Sliney, the actual manager of the FAA plays himself, for instance). There’s no star wattage to contend with or break the stride
of the lean storytelling, no Tom Cruise to plead intensely with the other passengers to join him or Mel Gibson to go mano a mano
with the terrorists. We learn just about as much as we need to about these folks in order to move the story further.
Mark Bingham, the publicist who was on his way to usher at a friend’s wedding in San Francisco is not identified as gay and in this
context it’s not important. Until events overtake them, he is just another passenger (ironically, the last to board). 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 it 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. We’re still stuck with the
lame duck President on whose watch this happened in the first place, one of the terrorist conspirators is on trial as the film opens
and there are still many unknowns about what happened (so many that a friend of mine is convinced that the entire thing was
engineered so Bush & Co. could get their money making war).
After watching the film what is clearer is that as a nation we have yet to come to grips with the long-term effects the tragedy is
having on our lives. How else to explain this national torpor, this indifference to each fresh scandal this group of corporatists
masquerading as politicians visits on us each day? Why have we settled for this meanie numbskull and his avarice loving cronies?
Allowed this encroaching disregard for common decency, the law, overt sexual discrimination, and barely disguised fondness for
torture? How many times can this President justify the actions of his administration using the events of 9/11 as his excuse?
That’s a lot for a movie, “just a movie,” to leave one thinking about. So I guess I’ve just answered that last concern for myself.
Seeing United 93, as hard and horrible as it was, has reminded me that we’ve allowed ourselves to go off course as a nation. I think
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 going to be a tough sell – no surprise – but it might help to purge some of that deep down grief. Or remind some
that it’s still there.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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 evidenced 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 knuckled
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.
Human Dramas:
United 93 and Akeelah and the Bee
Expanded Edition of 4-26-06 Knight at the Movies/Windy City Times Column
By Richard Knight, Jr.
United 93 and Akeelah and the Bee
Expanded Edition of 4-26-06 Knight at the Movies/Windy City Times Column
By Richard Knight, Jr.
