Dignified and moving say critics

United 93, the film about the hijacked 9/11 plane whose passengers fought back, has been praised by reviewers.

The film, by British director Paul Greengrass, has already sparked outrage across the US - with cries of "too soon" and some cinemas taking trailers off their screens.

Following early previews, however, the first US critics have declared it a dignified, if harrowing, retelling of events.

Entertainment Weekly hails the film for its refusal to paint the terrorists as "cartoon monsters", or the passengers as booming patriots.

Critic Lisa Schwarzbaum says: "It is a drama about the most politically charged crisis of our time that grants the dignity of autonomy to every soul involved."

Dennis Lim, of New York newspaper The Village Voice, says: "The film nobody wants to see is worth seeing."

United 93 tells in "approximate real time" the story of what probably took place aboard the 81-minute flight. It is due to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Tuesday before general release next Friday.

The film, say the critics, is largely "scrupulous" in its accuracy. But, according to the Village Voice: "The film suggests that if the FAA, the military and the airlines had been talking to each other that morning, Flight 93 need never have left the Newark tarmac."