September 5 is a slow, meandering film that is saved only by its clever use of real, archived footage. It offers only a few edge of your seat moments, and an ending that is simply a sad remembrance.
Synopsis: During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, an American sports broadcasting team must adapt to live coverage the Israeli athletes being held hostage by a terrorist group.
RATED R for language
Peter Sarsgaard leads a lesser know – but talented – group of actors in this retelling of the 1972 Summer Olympics hostage issue. The story is intriguing but as the movie plays out you understand why it has not been told in movie form before. There simply isn’t enough substance to carry a 90-minute drama. In a world of epic films that are often two-plus hours long it is refreshing to see one that fits what used to be the norm. In hindsight it is surprising they were able to fill even that shorter amount of time.
Unless you were in front of a TV in 1972 you may not remember seeing this play out live. Obviously the event was all over the news in days to follow, but it was an era when live, instant access to everything was not as common. We are used to a world of streaming, and cameras capturing every second of our lives. It was only by chance that the sports coverage of the olympics was able to preempt normal coverage and stay live. And that truly is more interesting to see in the film than the actual hostage event.
Networks like ABC, NBC, and CBS – which in 1972 was all there was – have a deep archive system. The filmmakers use the actual footage that was sent over the airwaves in 1972 expertly. It is a seamless grafting of past and present as the actors of today play out behind the scenes as we watch what was on the screens.
Leading up to the hostage situation there was much talk about Israeli athletes returning to Germany, and the emotion that was around that. It elevates the tragedy having it happen on German soil. Known as the Munich Massacre, it carried out by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September. I won’t go into how it unfolds, even though it happened in 1972, no need to spoil the ending here.
Many iconic news people were there covering the Olympics and took over the hostage coverage as well. A young Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker), well known ABC sports announcer Jim McKay, and the face of news at that time, Walter Cronkite, brought it all to viewers around the world.
September 5 the movie loses its way with the behind the scenes team. If you are interested in TV technology in the 1970s it does have that going for it. There was only one satellite that all networks shared. There were phone calls and deals to be made for ABC to even stay rolling with the live footage.
If you do even the slightest research you discover what a cluster it all ended up being. Even watching the movie with no idea of the outcome you get the sense that it is not going to go as planned for anyone. But even the Titanic was able to make a wonderful movie, even though we knew the horrible ending. This one simply has little to offer viewers other some some clever editing and an expected performance from Sarsgaard.
Once it hits streaming and digital you might find it a 90-minutes decently spent, but you will walk away a bit sad with no desire to visit it again.
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