Written by: Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

How soon is too soon to dramatize a tragedy? United 93 is the first feature film about the events of 9/11, and it depicts the harrowing, heroic saga of how passengers and crew rebelled against hijackers who took over the Boeing 757 that ultimately crashed in a Pennsylvania field instead of into a presumed target in Washington, D.C..

British writer/director Paul Greengrass ("The Bourne Supremacy," "Bloody Sunday") interweaves the chaotic hijacking on the plane with responses from the air-traffic control towers and military personnel, mixing improvised dialogue with phrases that were actually recorded on September 11th (some are on tapes played at the death-penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui) in an attempt to understand the fear and courage of those who - over the course of just 90 minutes - transform from a random assemblage of terrified strangers into bonded allies who confront an unthinkable dilemma with great resolve.

The four ruthless al Qaeda agents who seize control are focused. When a cockpit screen announces "Two (aircraft) hit World Trade Center," they celebrate. "The brothers have hit the targets," pilot Ziad Jarrah gloats, affixing a photo of the U.S. Capitol to the steering column. Meanwhile, the President of the United States could not be contacted.

Greengrass uses little-known actors and even some real-life air-traffic controllers and military tacticians, giving the feel of a documentary-style reenactment unfolding in real time, even as Todd Beamer (David Alan Basche) utters his now-famous, "Let's roll."

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, United 93 is a compassionate, intense, agonizing 8. With Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center," starring Nicholas Cage, set for release on August 11th, the choice of whether or not to re-visit this drama is up to you.