Clear Blue Tuesday

I avoid 9/11 related movies and dislike (some might say despise) musicals. That said, this 9/11 related musical charmed me. I had no idea that it had any song and dance numbers until the first one burst forth, at the perfect time. Every time the story started declining into melodrama it would go into one of these power pop musical bits that buoy the film's atmosphere just enough to re-enter a typical post-9/11ish story line. Even as I type this, I am amazed that I didn't hate this movie. I am still in awe of the treasure that was wrought by perfectly mixing two poisonous elements (only in my narrow taste), film alchemy at its finest. The stories of the survivors are heart rending and quite believable, the kind of stories that lead me to shy away from films with these themes. The songs were reminiscent of Cheap Trick, and if you are going to do a power pop musical there should be no one that you would rather be compared to. If this is what this movie did for a fervent non-believer, then anyone who has an interest in post-9/11 dramas or musicals should be absolutely thrilled.