Der Fall 9/11 - Was ist ein Leben wert?

Buried in the Netflix movie graveyard is this little unseen gem about a lawyer (Michael Keaton) who's given the job of figuring out how much compensation to give each family of people who died in the 9/11 attacks.

This is one of those scrappy do-gooder movies like "Erin Brockovich" or "Dark Waters" that pit earnest, well meaning folk against corporate greed, and I'm a total sucker for those kinds of movies. Michael Keaton is perfect to play a role like this, because he's so darn charismatic and likable and easy to root for. Add in Stanley Tucci, who makes everything he's in worth watching, and that's all you really need. But as a bonus, there's excellent work from Amy Ryan and stage actress Laura Benanti. The only acting misstep comes from Tate Donovan, who gets the unenviable task of representing Rich People and who is only lacking a silent villain mustache to turn his character into a total cartoon.

"Worth" goes into the things you'd think a movie like this would: economic and class disparity, the moral ramifications of putting the worth of a human life to a dollar figure, an American system that piles advantages on top of people who already have all the advantages. But it stays smart and understated and never overplays its hand.

Every year I try to see as many movies as I can regardless of how well they're reviewed or whether or not they get any awards attention, and movies like this are why. For every four you see that are forgettable or worse, there's a fifth that makes you glad you found it.

Grade: A.

I want to be sure you watch it. Films like this are less here for ratings than they are to tell us something we need to be reminded of.

With the 20th September 11th about to arrive it's important we remember as much as we can about the people who were lost and their families who are devastated as a result.

This film tells their stories through the eyes of one man who had to be convinced that the 9/11 victims fund was more about the victims than it was about the fund.

His realization and resulting humanity is an account of decency that will help us remember that we can still be kind and decent to each other and when times are tough maybe that's the most important thing we can be to each other.

There have been hundreds of films and TV shows documenting what happened on 9/11 and to be brutally honest , I stopped watching them years ago because it seems like it has become a bit of an obsession. I only decided to watch Worth because of its cast and it coming from a different angle and I'm quite glad I did .

Michael Keaton plays an attorney in Washington D. C who battles against cynicism, bureaucracy and politics to help the victims of 9/11 and although that sounds it a little dull , it really isn't.

There is no doubt that the best thing about this film is the performances from Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci. Tucci probably being the better of the two .

There are no shock tactics used in this film which is good because we've seen it all before.

Instead we get a view of how it was almost impossible to put a price on the lives of the people who died or were injured in the terrorist attack.

One scene stuck with me . They we discussing compensation with the representatives of highly paid workers and low paid workers and true to type the latter just wanted as much money as the could possible squeeze out of the government and the lower paid were totally grateful at their offers .

This won't be everyone's cup of tea because it's very dialogue heavy but I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting.

Worth is an incredibly human story that shows just how complicated the world can get when you ask one simple question; what is the value of a life?

I'm sure that everyone associated with this project felt a great pressure to do the subject matter justice and I genuinely feel they did that. Worth is a superbly constructed movie with excellent pacing which allows you the time to experience the weight of the situation and the emotions of the people involved without ever feeling too slow or getting bogged down. This is a genuine achievement, as it's essentially a film about people talking in rooms and those are notoriously difficult films to make. The editor and all those involved in the final cut certainly deserve a lot of credit for that.

The acting is as good as you would expect it to be. This is certainly Keaton's movie, as his character is the focal point that the story returns to on a regular basis, and he carries that with his usual brilliance, but it must be said that there isn't a single bad performance in this movie. Everyone is fantastic and I feel this is the kind of film where if one person had been bad, it would have taken you out of the whole thing ... I was in it from start to finish.

Whatever your political views, I think this is an interesting look into a world that will be foreign to most of us, but we all need to understand.

8/10.

It is a film that shows American culture in all its expression, Values vs Economy, Reason vs Economy, Humanitarian Act vs Economy.

A film by a director who was unknown to me, Sara Colangelo, for me it is a pleasant surprise to discover this young director. I also loved the performance of Amy Ryan as Camille Biros, she managed to play a mature woman, very professional of these times.