Worth

"My daughter's worth just as much as anybody in a corner office."

Worth is about an attorney in Washington D. C. who battles against cynicism, bureaucracy, and politics to help the victims of 9/11. An important subject, it focuses both on the victims and families lost in the attack, and how it affected those who didn't experience those great losses that day. It's taken a long while for this to come out. With its premier at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2020, I would've expected it to drop sometime last year, but they waited almost two full years to release it on Netflix. It makes sense to drop it close to the tenth anniversary of the tragedy. I would've expected something more like Spotlight given the subject and the same producers along with Michael Keaton on board. Unfortunately, the movie comes off unremarkable. It explores all that it wants, but nothing more. I'm sorted of reminded of a movie like White Boy Rick or The Mule or some other recent Clint Eastwood movie. The movie does the job but never goes as deep as it should. There are a few emotional scenes that I liked and hoped would stay in that direction. But shortly after we get that bland biopic formula.

The two main performances from Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci are good. I preferred Tucci's character more than Keaton's, but still good. Who stole the show for me was Laura Benanti. She has a few scenes and she crushes them. Those were the scenes I wish the movie could've been. I also did like these interview scenes throw in throughout. We then get more stories besides the struggle to understand how to compensate the families. The script had its moments. I would say the dialogue was mostly good, but could come off as uninteresting with scenes dragging on. Sara Colangelo had good ideas when it came to direction. The scene on the train when the attacks take place has a good use of music and a good one take. That's the most I can say. The movie has its moments. But it comes off forgettable in the end. I didn't feel like I retained as much as I could. The subject is interesting, but I lost internet watching. This could be something people are really into, especially those who experienced it. I just think more could've been done.

The good: excellent acting performance by Michael Keaton. Photography and direction are great as well.

What's missing? Anything bad? Well, this movie turns into a feel good movie, wherein all the 9/11 vicitm's families suddenly start treating the government as a friend, while in real life there was no such thing. In fact there is still a lot of resentment towards the government because of the fact that a lot of volunteer aid workers did not get a penny. Not even for their severe disabilities.

Still not a bad movie, but a movie which feels like someone is whitewashing the mistreatment of many aid workers by painting a rosy picture of a terrible mistreatment of volunteer aid workers.

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.

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.

This movie is frustrating because its has so many of the ingredients needed for a great movie but it's not a great movie and I don't know what the missing ingredient is. But it plods along without impetus. It needs a jolt from a director who would see a great story thats told in a boring way is not story to be retold.