It feels bad saying anything negative about this movie, given that it clearly means a lot to certain people and tells an emotional story about the heroic actions of one young man on an undeniably awful day. But ultimately, I thought this documentary was overall quite good with a few imperfections, and in the interest of offering my honest thoughts after watching this, will break down first the stuff I really liked, followed by some of the stuff I didn't love.
Above anything else, this documentary excels when it gives an emotional and detailed insight into the people trapped within the south tower after the plane collided into it. Having accounts from the survivors proved to be incredibly moving and effective at getting me as a viewer to imagine how harrowing that experience would have been. Additionally, the way the multiple survivor accounts are used to piece together exactly what Welles bravely managed to do was interesting and ultimately inspiring, as well as undeniably the highlight of the entire documentary. As a whole, the film's approach is simple and straightforward: here's who Welles was, here's what happened, here's what he did, and here's how he's remembered. This may be a downside if not for the fact that what he did was obviously heroic and brave; such a straightforwardly selfless act does not really need a complex or multilayered approach. This film is about celebrating what he as an individual did during a desperate time, and I really respect that. I found his story engrossing and informative, as I'd never heard of the "man in the red bandana" before, and it's an emotional and moving story worth telling.
In terms of addressing some flaws: I found that the voiceover from Paltrow was poorly recorded at times, as she was occasionally drowned out by the background music. In fact, her contribution to the documentary in general was quite weak; she seemed shoehorned in, she sounded uninterested, and overall the film could have worked fine without a narrator in my opinion. Simply having interviews and footage from the day could have sufficed in explaining what was happening, especially because so many of the interviews were already very solid and informative. The music is sometimes mawkish and a little too much too, especially during the opening and closing credits (likely won't be a problem for all though). Additionally, the film seems to struggle to reach feature length, as it loses some steam towards the end and features an odd ending, where the credits start, then some other written information is given through titles, then there is a strange 'filmmaker Q&A,' which is then followed by some more credits. It's not the strongest overall ending, but I can't say it ruins the entire documentary.
Overall, I don't believe this to be a perfect documentary, but it is a compelling and mostly well-constructed one. At its core, its subject and story are both fascinating and important, and the insights into how it would have been inside the tower on that fateful day are very powerful. There's enough here to respect and be compelled by for me to give this a pretty solid recommendation.
