Page 18 - Talk of Tequesta - November '21

Page 18, The Talk Of Tequesta

arTs & enTerTainmenT

Film Review: Worth

By Nils A. Shapiro

A couple of months ago, The federal Michael Keaton, in the role of Feinberg, does an excellent
the natural extended focus g o v e r n m e n t job of portraying the inner turmoil the man undergoes
on the 20th anniversary had decided throughout the film as the question of the worth of a life
of the 9/11 tragedy may to protect the becomes all-consuming. Amy Ryan is equally effective
have left many readers of airlines involved as his associate, Camille Biros, who very quickly views
this column both saddened in the hijackings the problem on a more emotional level.
a nd unde rst a nda bl y against anticipated But it is the consistently remarkable Stanley Tucci, in
emotionally exhausted by lawsuits by the the role of the real-life Charles Wolf who lost his wife
the coverage of that event, families, on the Katherine in the Towers that day – in fact a musician, pilot
but I urge you to make grounds that the and businessman, but not fully credited with those skills
room on your schedule effects of such in the film – who makes the greatest impact in Feinberg’s
for one more reminder of lawsuits would eventual success with the Victim Compensation Fund.
an aspect of that date that is too seldom brought to our severely damage Wolf initially gained greater credibility with his
attention. the overall national thousands of fellow victims than Feinberg and the federal
This month’s film, Worth, which began streaming on economy. Whether government managed to achieve; he didn’t entirely trust
Netflix recently after its initial release in January 2020, is or not that would the program, setting up a website that the other victims
the true story of the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund have been the case, followed ... and after the introductory large meeting, when
that was established by Congress as a way to somehow and the extent to the husband of the Towers’ cleaning woman had shouted
financially “compensate” the families of the victims. It which one could fairly blame the airlines for the actions at Feinberg and caused a disruption, Wolf cordially
is based on the book, What Is a Life Worth?, by attorney of the hijackers notwithstanding, such questions are introduces himself to Feinberg as an open and honest
Kenneth Feinberg, the real-life attorney who – together not adequately considered in the screenplay by Max critic of the Fund’s intentions.
with his associate, Camille Biros – was named by Congress Borenstein. But judging from the influence of big business Worth is the story of the evolution of Feinberg’s
to develop the procedures and terms under which the Fund in today’s politics, it is a decision readily understood. thinking about the value – the worth – of each of the lives
would operate, with the objective of enrolling at least 80 Once the Fund had been established, it became lost, and how this leads to Wolf’s growing confidence in
percent of the families by Dec. 3, 2003. Feinberg’s responsibility to determine how to apportion eventually leading the other victims’ families to enroll in
its proceeds. As one angry man shouts during a meeting accepting the Fund’s settlements.
at which Feinberg is explaining the program to hundreds It is a story told without the usual full-screen scenes of
of victims’ family members, “My wife was a cleaning burning Towers. There is only a bare visual of that horror
woman at the Towers, but she was worth as much to me reflected for a moment in the film: Feinberg, relaxing on
as any big CEO in a company there.” And at one point a subway train, eyes closed, listening through earphones
a corporate executive argues that, if a victim had a life to one of his favorite operas, has not noticed the frenzy
insurance policy, that should not reduce how much his or that just began around him among other riders when the
her family should receive from the Fund. train moved from underground onto the elevated tracks,
It soon becomes clear to Feinberg – a natural pragmatist and as he opens his eyes we see his face from outside the
who had accepted this major obligation on a pro bono train window, staring horrified, as the smoking Towers
basis, in some part out of a sense of civic duty – that are reflected in the train’s glass window.
establishing numbers and rules for the distribution of The message here of this tragedy, instead, is in
funds would require an approach different from the strict, believing that any amount of money can offset the
objective policies he had initially set out. “You can’t make suffering of those left behind.
up different rules for each case,” he had argued. And

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