United 93

Although rated R, this film is about as good a recounting of the Sept. 11 events as one could have hoped for from Hollywood | Andrew Coffin

United 93, director Paul Greengrass' docudrama account of the one hijacked flight on Sept. 11, 2001, that did not reach its target, begins and ends with prayer. As the film opens, four Muslim terrorists quietly, calmly pray in Arabic in a nondescript hotel room near the Newark, N.J., airport; several hours of real time (and about 110 minutes of film) later, the hijackers' now frenzied prayers are mingled with the supplications of United 93's passengers as the plane plummets toward a Pennsylvania field.

It's a subtle, powerful framing device that is typical of Mr. Greengrass' remarkable film, which is utterly tense, utterly compelling, and utterly believable. Although rated R for language and some intense sequences of terror and violence, the film is about as good a recounting of the Sept. 11 events as one could have hoped for from Hollywood, and highly recommended to those who can stomach its realism.