September 12th

I saw this at an early screening in Hollywood and enjoyed it immensely. The film follows the journey of five freshmen college classmates on the evening of September 11, 2001 while they struggle with their place in the evolutionary food chain of a normal college experience when it becomes increasingly obvious nothing in their lives will ever be normal again. The entire film takes place in one twenty four hour period and works on two levels at the same time. The normal freshmen angst plays out: drinking, awkward crushes, talk of sexual conquests, at the same time trying to wrap their heads around what the terrible events of the day truly mean. Max Gail of Barney Miller fame has a great cameo which greatly compliments the extremely talented newcomers in the film. September Morning is a slice of time that addresses the horrors of 9/11 the way most of the country and the world did watching it on television until becoming numb. Adding helplessness to the terrifying start of a new life in college and this movie examines the fear of youth in a world gone mad. Great film.

The actors here all do a good job, and the writing is good quality. Still, this is not my idea of entertaining. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. The conversations go from worried to funny to philosophical to just plain angry.

At one point some kind of keyboard is playing, and the music is kind of depressing. Up until that point I don't think there has been music, at least not as background in the scenes in the dorm room, and it doesn't last all that long. The really, really slow closing credits also have music, and not the kind I like either. Briefly, there is actual loud music coming from elsewhere in the dorm. It's weird that no other sound comes from anywhere else, because these five people surely aren't the only ones in the building.

If I have to pick any of the students to like, it is Lynz. She seems to be the voice of reason and prettier than Shelly, who is kind of nerdy. Actually, Shelly wears glasses just to look smart but doesn't really need them. Justin is also likable, while Eric to me is more of a challenge.

Of all the characters Don who delivered the pizza was my favorite. He was Wojo in "Barney Miller" and it was nice to see him again, but he seems so much nicer here. At first I thought he was Christopher Lloyd because of the hair, but he doesn't have that distinctive voice.

Is this family friendly? Of course not. Sometimes the sound went out so many times when I saw this that I had a hard time figuring out what was going on. The students seem to use a lot of bad language, and yet I guess it's nothing more than what would be realistic.

If you are or recently were a college student and enjoyed sitting around talking about every subject there is, this should certainly look familiar. I've never done it, and it wasn't really what I would choose to watch, but it is was worth seeing.