Coming Attractions: 9/11

Flight 93 (the trailer is here) is the first mainstream theatrical release to focus specifically on the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It's set to open in April.

If the just-released trailer is any indication, the film is likely to be a pretty raw emotional experience. Whether people go to see it remains another matter. Certainly, a lot of moviegoers are likely to think it tasteless and exploitation.

In a recent New York Times article, reporter Heather Timmons noted that director-writer Paul Greengrass shot the movie with the full cooperation of the families of the 40 passengers who died when the airplane crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

"A researcher for Flight 93, Kate Solomon, contacted the victims' families to solicit their support, and Mr. Greengrass and one of the film's producers, Lloyd Levin, met with many. ...

"Many of the actors have had direct contact with family members while researching their roles. Most stress that they are not seeking to impersonate the passengers they represent, but instead are trying to portray the way they might have reacted.

"Leigh Zimmerman, the actress playing the passenger Christine Snyder, was sent Ms. Snyder's wedding video by her family. 'I got to see the way that she walked and talked, I got to see her be with her family,' Ms. Zimmerman said. 'I think she was a calming presence,' she said, an interpretation reflected in Ms. Zimmerman's portrayal."

This might sound like a callous observation, but I wonder if Greengrass, in working so closely with the families, might compromise his vision. After all, one would guess -- and rightly so -- that just about every family member of every Flight 93 passenger wants to believe his or her loved one was instrumental in storming that cockpit, an act of selflessness and heroism that saved countless lives.

What family would have given the moviemakers the go-ahead to depict their dead loved one as anything less than heroic? By honoring every passenger of that ill-fated flight, Greengrass might be making less of a movie and more of a memorial.

Which, come to think of it, seems like the appropriate thing to do. Regardless, Flight 93 is sure to be a fascinating, challenging film.