The Cotillionettes, about as fine a group of female bloggers as one could hope for, have spoken. Their reviews are in for the film United 93.
I, however, being the slacker of the bunch haven't even seen the film yet (I know, I'm a horrible American) so I cannot contribute my two cents at this point. But I will direct you to their thoughts.
Merri Musings has her review and a link to her husband's review up here.
I was extremely surprised when I almost found myself in a position to have to walk out of the movie. I seriously thought I was having some kind of anxiety attack. My heart was racing, I was shaking and I couldn’t sit still. I did make it through the movie, only to find myself a blubbering fool once the screen went black. I wore my sunglasses out of the theater to cover up my red-rimmed eyes. I wasn’t alone, though. Women were fixing their mascara, even a number of men were wiping away tears.
Darleen, of Darleen's Place, also saw it with her hubby and adds her thoughts to the forum.
There have been some grumbles that the Islamist hijackers weren't "villainized" enough, or their "reasons" weren't explained. Some even found some equivalency with the intercut scenes of the Islamists praying and the recitations of the Lord's prayer by passengers who knew they were going to die. However, I again find such a straight-forward portrayal of these predators as unflinchingly non-politically correct. There is no downplaying of their religious fanaticism and the cold-blooded evil that comes with Islamism. The meaning of the Commandment Thou shall not take the name of God in vain is about doing evil acts in the name of God and bringing the name of God into disrepute. There is no greater evil than religious evil and the contrast between the hijackers and the passengers could not be more stark. Greengrass doesn't have to preach or explain, just show.
Sisu actually backs Arianna Huffington in her review. You'll just have to click on this link to believe me.
Our dear Feisty has her reaction up as well.
I thought the movie was well-done in its documentarian style, but they could have played up the fact that the hijackers talked overhead to the passengers, telling them they'd be going back to the airport where they'd "make their demands" as heard on cockpit recordings. Certainly, they alluded to the fact that the passengers believed, at least initially, it was more of a classic hijacking where the hijackers landed and demanded ransom for the passengers. This would have emphasized why nothing was done to stop the hijacking until after the passengers heard from their relatives. Since this was clearly recorded, it's odd that they'd leave that out.
Wild Thing of PC Free Zone has her review and a great deal of background information and links on her site.
There's more where that came from. I just have to end this post here for now.
