Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
Worth
(Netflix)
By Lucas Allen
The terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, remain impactful 20 years later, provoking memories where we were on that day. There have been several movies on the events since then, most notably the 2006 releases of “United 93” and “World Trade Center,” meant to tell riveting true stories, but both came off as being made too soon. This year, Netflix tries to honor those affected by the attacks with its new drama, “Worth.”
After 9/11, Washington lawyer Kenneth Feinberg (Michael Keaton) reluctantly agrees to take up a proposal by Congress to head up a special compensation fund for the families of the fallen victims. Working with his firm partner Camille (Amy Ryan), he has to come up with a formula to not only pay off the families, but also keep them from suing the airlines. However, the proposal was met with criticism from those still reeling from the tragedy. One of them, Charles (Stanley Tucci) who lost his wife set up a website called Fix the Fund to give out information about why it doesn’t work and how it can be fixed.
Despite that, Camille and Priya (Shunori Ramanthan) both conduct interviews with those families hoping to find resolutions for compensation. This includes a widow (Lauren Benanti) who lost her firefighter husband and a young man named Graham (Andy Schneeflock) wanting something for his male partner much to his parents’ disapproval. But Kenneth remains impartial and emotionally distant from the victims’ stories to care more about the mathematical formula needed to distribute the fund. He’ll soon realize that his attitude is what’s threatening the fund to begin with.
The filmmakers’ hearts are in the right place – the movie isn’t trying to exploit the tragedy, but sincerely trying to honor the lives lost on that day and the surviving families’ struggles in dealing with the aftermath. The number of interview scenes presented do a fine job of expressing the emotional pain of grief and loss.
But the movie’s real issue is in the screenplay’s over-abundance of talking scenes, especially dialogue involving numbers crunching. The dialogue gets repetitive when the story is mainly about the victims and the fund itself, which also gets pretty boring. At least with “United 93” and “World Trade Center,” the nature of heroism and action was used to convey the courage and bravery above all adversity. Everything works out predictably at the end of this film, so don’t expect many surprises.
Keaton is the best thing this movie has going for it, with his witty and wonderful performance. Fans of his body of work will recognize all his tics and traits as an actor plus his need to stare at any of his co-stars in almost Batman-like manner. Tucci makes a good opposite of Keaton as a cheerful and pleasant character who lost something but then gained something else in return. Both Ryan and Ramanthan contribute to this film as the heart and soul nicely during its emotional points.
As far as movies about 9/11 go, “Worth” is only the middle point between the superior “25th Hour” and that horrendous Charlie Sheen film you probably never heard of. It does tug at the heart strings, but has too many words to say to make us care. Like any Netflix film, it’s good for only one viewing before moving on to the next related title.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for some strong language and thematic elements)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 2.75 Stars (Out of Four)
