United 93

As we near the end of 2006, I feel compelled to write reviews for the films I believe have been the best (though not necessarily the most rewatchable) of the year. While some of these are not yet available on DVD, by beginning to write these reviews now, I will be able to quickly point people to them as they are released on DVD.

Currently, of all the movies I have seen thus far through 2006, United 93 stands high above the fold. Hands down, this is the best, most powerful film of the year and Paul Greengrass, the writer and director, deserves congratulations, recognition and the opportunity to do whatever he wants next. Studios should just hand him a blank check. He does not sensationalize the event, but creates a very realistic picture of what happened that tragic September day, truly capturing the true courage of those United flight 93's passangers. He depicts how these ordinary men and women united together to respond courageously and extraordinarily in the face of fear.

Seeing this opening night, I experienced something I had never before witnessed at the movies: complete silence. After the chaotic, frantic ending you hope to end happily, like most Hollywood endings, and the screen cut to black, no one in the entire theatre made a sound. They didn't move an inch. People sat in their chairs, quiet, still and sober, internalizing everything that had just taken place on screen in one of the most terrifying one hour and fifty-one minutes ever captured on film. And even once people began to shuffle their way out of the theatres, people still did not talk.

Now, this film is not extremely rewatchable. The tragic material makes it a movie that you will rarely, if ever want to rewatch. Nonetheless, it is an important film. And it's one I can't recommend you see enough. Rent United 93 as soon as you have the chance and sit down to watch and marvel, in humble silence, a few of your fellow Americans' bravery.

The bottom line: Rarely Rewatchable