'September 5' is a thrilling, must-see pressure cooker

September 5
4 out of 5 Stars
Director: Tim Fehlbaum
Writers: Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David
Starring: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin
Rated: R for language.

Synopsis: September 5 unveils the decisive moment that forever changed media coverage and continues to impact live news today. Set during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, the film follows the ABC Sports broadcasting team who quickly shifted from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage. Through this lens, September 5 provides an important perspective on the live broadcast seen globally by millions of people at the time.

Review: Set almost entirely in a control room, “September 5” is an eye-opening thriller that recounts the tension-filled hours where a sports broadcasting team were forced to cover breaking news when Israeli athletes were taken hostage by a terrorist group during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Having spent nearly twenty years working in both a newspaper and a television newsroom, I can tell you that a reality series built around the behind-the-scenes of a newscast would be as entertaining as the news itself. Nothing can overshadow the events of September 5, 1970, but the dramatization of the efforts of those involved in bringing the news of what would come to be known as the “Munich Massacre” is an engrossing experience that offers as much suspense and anxiety as the best of Alfred Hitchcock’s thrillers.

The control room quickly becomes claustrophobic as ABC’s on-site crew, who expected to only be covering sporting events, are tasked with making in-the-moment decisions that will shape the way Americans are informed and how history will remember the tragedy as it played out before them. The screenplay and performances allow the humanity of the crew to be part of the story.

The film, which is only 95 minutes, is a masterwork in writing, directing, and editing as it briskly makes its way through the narrative. The collapse timeline gives the film an unrelenting pace that never lets the audience exhale. Nor should it.

More impressive is the fact that at no point did I think, “That’s not how a newsroom operates.” Technology has evolved but the process is essentially the same.

“September 5” is an easy recommendation to anyone who is old enough to see it (and quite a few who aren't).