United 93

I don't want to spoil too much, but this is fantastic flick.

I have always had a strange connection emotionally to Flight 93. Mostly because Todd Beamer ("Let's Roll!") was about my age and had lived in the suburb next to mine.

I had friends who escaped the WTC that day, but Beamer, a guy I have never met, really has stuck with me.

Shot in an underplayed, non-glamorous, grainy documentary fashion (in fact, most characters aren't even given a name or a history) this flick is not about Hollywooding the events of 9-11.

I felt like I was on this plane. It was a rare, honest cinematic experience. In fact, I was so sucked in that I didn't even realize that former client of mine played Todd Beamer (David Alan Basche). He was someone I used to talk to daily, in fact when I gave up on Hollywood and moved to San Francisco he gave me a set of "Stork Club" fridge magnets, that are still up.

Often in flicks when the clock is ticking, there is a speech of some sort. I was waiting for a monologue of the now famous phone call to Beamer's wife ending with the heroic statement "Let's ROLL!"

This is not what happens. In times of crisis, there is no time for dramatics. You act.
The famous line glamourized by our President (who didn't realize the immediacy of the situation) is barely audible. It was simply nearly real time telling of people in crisis.

While, the president and vice-president are referred to only once... their actions of that day kept cycling through my head.

I remember looking at the TV at 7:30 pm PST that evening and wondering where the hell he was.

He was hiding.

Our president is our leader, he is supposed to be the best of the bunch. When a bunch of "average Americans" can show greater courage in a crisis, there is a problem.

Our president was a coward that day. The Americans stood up.

United 93 pays the respect to those who deserve it.