Reviewer: Russell Clark

Reign on me is the poignant tale of Charlie Fineman, played by Adam Sandler, who lost his family in the 9/11 attacks on New York City (a wife and three daughters) and is not just struggling to cope, but has lost all grip on reality. Financially independent thanks to government compensation cash, he no longer needs to work and spends his time avoiding all human contact, collecting vinyl and playing video games.

A chance meeting with his old college roommate, played by Don Cheadle, gives Charlie the opportunity to get back some semblance of a life.

I wouldn’t call this a feel good movie as such, because you feel quite shit for almost the entire duration of the movie. However, Sandler’s impressive bursts of psychotic anger as he refuses to approach the topics which so hurt him are worth the money it cost to hire this movie.

This movie does not dwell considerably on the 9/11 event itself, there are no stock movie scenes of that terrible day, but the strong performance of Sandler more than attests to the grief which so many widows and widowers must have felt post-attack.

Cheadle’s performance is solid – can this actor do no wrong? He takes it upon himself to help his former roomie back to a healthy mental state and simultaneously rekindles a bond with a male friend – something he has lost through being married. Solid performances from Jada Pinkett Smith, and a cameo role by Donald Sutherland at the end make up a solid cast.

This movie pulls all the right heart strings without being overly sentimental. Hire it.

That being said, it’s not overly dramatic and really doesn’t take a particular side. Instead just goes about setting out the facts of what we know happened on that tragic day. Of the 4 planes that were hijacked on 9/11, Flight United 93 was the only one not to reach it’s intended target, either the White House, or the Capitol building.

Although events can’t be crystal clear, it seems that the passengers on Flight 93 decided to try and take back control of the plane from the terrorists before it was too late. If you were to judge this film out of context, you’d think it was little more than a TV Movie of the Week. The production values aren’t high, the acting in some places is wooden and it certainly doesn’t have the typical happy ending we’d expect. But taking this film out of context is not a luxury afforded to us. It’s always at the forefront of your mind that these are real events, that happened to real people and there are real families out there still directly coping with the repercussions of what happened. More than once the conversations from the passengers to their loved ones bring a lump to the throat. This adds an overwhelming sense of dread and emotion to Flight 93. You already know the ending before you start watching but, if anything, that simply adds to the films impact.

A lazier director could have simply played up the “Hero” element of the passengers, into a flag waving work on national pride. Instead Bourne Director, Paul Greengrass delivers a powerful film that reduces the story back to a simple tale of great bravery in the fact of horrific circumstances. The only question United 93 asks is, what would you do in this situation?

For the simple fact that the film doesn’t shy away from, or sugar coat the events, it’s a 4 out of 5.