Diverted

I watched a documentary a year after the 9/11 disaster that shared the story of Maritime airport roles on this day. It gripped me as I had been to the Maritime region within a month of 9/11 flying in and out of Boston, and later, by Manhattan on towards my home--pointing out the Trade Center to a tween boy sitting next to me. Recently, I was trying to find that documentary and stumbled across this film. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The human element shows up despite it being a secondary movie. The acting is done well and hones in on the highlights and the heart of the Gander people--save the poor "Italian children" who probably know one Italian word, "Si." There are a few things that do not totally add up timing and props--see other reviews which gripe on these matters. Nonetheless, this film captures the heart of the Gander people, the fear of the whole situation, family members who deal with missing loved ones, the scare of stereotyping Muslim people, and why not add potential love to the mix though I do think it necessary for the air traffic controller to sleep with the girl from London. It is a film that I have now shared with several friends/family, and watched numerous times myself. Kudos to Canadian filmmakers!

So what took so long? Right after 9/11, I said the story of Canada accepting hundreds of diverted flights would make a great movie. Finally after eight years, it's happened. This is well done, not "great", but well done. A couple of plausible love stories are effectively worked in. The film seems true to the facts and it captures the wonderful realities of Newfoundland right down to some great "down east" music, the awesome scenery, the legendary hospitality of "Newfies" and even the touristy rite of "kissin' the cod." I hope this film gets some offshore exposure. It was a tragic time but also one in which Canada played a proud role.

Having lived virtually my entire life in the big city of Toronto, I then had the chance to live for three years in the mid 90's in a small outport in Central Newfoundland, about a 2 hour drive west of Gander. Everything I had heard about Newfoundlanders I found to be true. They were welcoming, hospitable, friendly, funny - a truly unique and wonderful culture. That Gander was able to rise to the challenge of feeding and housing almost 7,000 stranded airline passengers whose flights had been diverted to the city after the closure of US airspace on that terrible day of September 11, 2001 was no surprise to me. This movie attempts to tell that story by offering a fictionalized account focusing largely on the experiences of the people of a particular flight who found themselves in Gander on that day.

For the most part, I enjoyed the movie. It had a real "Newfoundland feel" to it, some spectacular scenery shots and tried valiantly (and successfully to a large extent) to portray both the bewilderment and sometimes anger of the passengers who found themselves trapped in this insanity, as well as the struggle of the city and its officials to come to terms with the role they had been given. The performances weren't great, but they were decent enough, and it was nice to see a Canadian- made movie that was unapologetically Canadian. The movie did have two major flaws, though. First was the decision to introduce two potential romances to the mix (one between passengers, and one between a passenger and a resident.) Frankly, that just didn't fit. I can't think of a better way to put it. The other mistake was to focus so heavily on the passengers, when the real story was the absolute logistical miracle as this small city came together to meet a herculean challenge. There was little sense of what the city was up against, and of how incredible their efforts were. The people of Gander came across here as nice, but not valiant. That was a real weakness.

If you're truly interested in what happened on and after 9/11 in Gander, you really should read the book "The Day The World Came To Town." Author Jim DeFede did a brilliant job of weaving the passengers' stories into those of the folks of Gander, and gave a real feel for the effort that went into pulling this off. As to the movie? As entertainment it was OK, but not great. I was never tempted to change the channel. As to history? It could have been a lot better. The people of Gander deserved a better tribute. Still, I'd give it a 6/10

6.4 stars.

Maybe it wasn't totally no budget, there are some great scenes that seemed polished. In fact, the whole film looks well done and not cheaply made, but it feels cheap and I feel cheap for watching it. There seems to be about 7 main characters. I'll spitball it and say the hotel concierge was one of them along with a man and a woman of middle age who are seated next to each other on the plane. Then there is the air traffic controller who is a recognizable actor (X-Men, Rookie Blue, and a plethora of movies and shows), and a young woman with semi-dark skin, and maybe they are attempting to portray her as an Arab, it's uncertain, but she's English. And then there's the actual Arab who is a New Yorker and they are looking strangely at him and treating him with disdain because he's Muslim. And finally there's an arrogant businessman who has to get back to New York immediately, and thinks the whole world owes him. So anyways, those are the main characters.

The film was good for the first hour, then we are dealing with some cut rate relationships forming between two couples and the snooty businessman is all up in everyone's face because he feels like his life is more important than anyone else. The hotel worker is probably the only person with any redeeming qualities. I liked her portrayal of an Irish woman who lives in NewFoundland and works in a hotel that is inundated by thousands of passengers who have no place to go now that no planes are allowed to fly into the USA due to the twin towers being attacked. Otherwise the film was a disappointment after about 50 minutes.

As a witness to the 9/11 diversion to Gander back in 2001 I was extremely eager to watch this film. I was more then thrilled when I heard there would be a movie based on the kindness and generosity fellow Newfoundlanders showed over 6000 strangers from all over the world. But when I finally watched the movie I was more then disappointed! The storyline was half-decent and had some great scenes portraying how Newfoundlanders respond to a crisis with their acts of Kindness as well as focusing on some of the local traditions (screeched in). But it would have been nice for the writer to put some research into the town of Gander in which the movie was depicting. For example: People in Gander do not have strong Irish accents, the school is called Gander Academy and not Gander Elementry, the neighbouring town which also went to great lenghts to house and provide necessities to those stranded is in fact called Glenwood and not Glendale (I think this deserved some recognition and the name should have at least been correct) The highway the man took to go to Port Aux Basques to catch the ferry to NS is in fact the Trans Canada Highway which is not by any means a single lane road with no lines and bush overgrowth reaching the side of the road. There are no Dairy Queens or 'Gateway' hotels. (Catchy name though) and the Ocean is not a simple hike from Gander. A lake, yes, Ocean definitely not. The nearest Ocean to Gander is at least an hour drive, if not a little more.

For a low-budget film the actors did a good job considering what they were given to work with! Kodos to them... But as for the rest of it... I expected more.

I give this movie a 4 out of 10.... Next time if your writing a movie based on actual events and places, a little research would be appreciated!