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September 11

 Two characters that stuck with me this week: Karen Donato and "Graham," in "Worth."


"Worth" is the story of the 9/11 Victims' Compensation Fund. Think of the mess. Dividing the estate becomes a fraught subject even in small families. After 9/11, lawyers had to figure out how to compensate many, many families--with victims from varied socioeconomic backgrounds, victims with varied jobs.

The movie feels a bit like a reprise of "Spotlight": Once again, Michael Keaton is the star, and once again, Stanley Tucci is the moral compass. Tucci plays an actual person, a man enraged by the early calculations of "the fund." Tucci designs a site--"Fix the Fund"--and insists that Keaton must turn off his opera CDs, must begin to listen to the victims.

Karen Donato is a "composite victim." We see her on the morning of 9/11; her husband, a firefighter, neglects to kiss her, and this seems "charged." After the tragedy, Karen insists that her husband was a saint, and who could argue? The guy tried to rescue people from burning buildings. But, also: The guy had a secret, second family.

It's fascinating to watch Karen struggle with her own denial, and to half-accept the reality of her husband's life. And to see her help people who need help--her husband's secret daughters. Her last lines are to Michael Keaton: She snorts and says, "My husband always wanted daughters." And she adds: "Be sure that you help those girls."

The other story, about "Graham," concerns a gay man who loses his partner in the Pentagon explosion. Graham couldn't marry, couldn't secure a civil union. His partner was estranged from his own homophobic parents--and yet, because of the structure of the law, the gay-hating patriarch will get any kinds of compensation that result from the efforts of the 9/11 fund. We see the homophobic parents, and their narrative seems familiar: "Our son wasn't gay. He was just charismatic. That guy, Graham, was just chasing our son. But our son didn't want to have anything to do with him."

It's a tribute to the script that this particular story doesn't have an easy ending. Homophobia wins, and Graham gets nothing.

This movie is just a gripping portrait of deeply flawed humans struggling with events beyond comprehension--struggling, and sometimes failing. The script captures something real about the difficulty of being alive--even if you feel somewhat removed from the story of the Twin Towers. I hope Laura Benanti gets more and more opportunities like the role of Karen, in "Worth."
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