Character acting.(Now Playing: Film reviews, diamonds to dross)(Movie review)

Media spin doctors have done their best to turn patriotism into a dirty word, yet even movie critics--some of the most agile redefiners of culture around--have been humbled by the true patriotism on display in United 93.

Praise has been nearly unanimous for this painstaking recreation of United Flight 93, the one hijacked plane on 9/11 that didn't reach its target. And if the movie has been appreciated more for what it isn't--exploitative, inaccurate, sensational--those reviews still carry an unspoken acceptance of what it is: a testament to a group of ordinary Americans who became, in effect, the first foot soldiers in the war on terror.

If it were not for the grim outcome in Pennsylvania, where the plane crashed and left no survivors, this would almost be too good of a story to be true. Those looking for a more inspiring definition of real-world, patriotic resolve would be hard-pressed to find it. Faced with certain death (the passengers had learned of their hijackers' intentions after calling loved ones on the ground), these citizen-soldiers refused to accept their fate, and tried to take back the plane. If they failed to save themselves, they would at least save the thousands of would-be victims the plane was headed toward.

Considering that the black-box transcripts from the flight are more riveting than anything John Grisham could crank out, it's no wonder that Hollywood chose this story to be its first official foray into 9/11. Yet that doesn't mean the studios couldn't have screwed it up. (Harrison Ford as Todd Beamer, anyone?)

Thankfully, Universal Pictures chose British director Paul Greengrass to steer the project. The no-nonsense, documentary-style filmmaker behind Bloody Sunday and The Bourne Supremacy lends United 93 the visceral immediacy of an eyewitness account. There isn't a frill to be found. This means no grandstanding stars, no dramatic speeches, no Big Hollywood Moments. Even the high climax--the passengers' rushing of the cockpit--is staged with the messy chaos of actual life.

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