September 5

Every beat, every moment, every scene is carefully calibrated to hold your attention, even when it seems like not much is happening except for people talking.

I found it engrossing, sobering...

Ethical questions haunt the movie. And while strong performances abound, no one gives a rousing speech to clarify the murk.

... Driven by intellectual purpose and crackles with momentum.

So tautly directed that you can practically feel the panic-sweat trickling down the back of your own neck.

The technical stuff -- almost all of which plays out within the tight confines of the broadcast studio -- is fascinating. But the meat of September 5 lies elsewhere, in the big moral questions it poses.

Director Tim Felhbaum’s “September 5” does something quite remarkable — it creates nerve-rattling tension out of a real-life event, one whose outcome is known to many people with living memory of it.

The actors are outstanding. They bring pressing gravity to their courageous, fallible characters’ every decision between moral probity and professional duty.

As documentary-style cinema goes, it's top notch. Cigarettes in the studio! Tape spools! Walkie talkies! Secondary sources for news stories! Peter Jennings talking down to the sports team! It's all so quaint, yet still gripping.

With its docu-drama feel, 'September 5' brilliantly captures the rising tension within the newsroom, making the audience feel the weight of every second.