Worth review – predictable 9/11 drama fails to dig deeper

The value one can place on a human life is a concept that, even in the most abstract form, has plagued and baffled philosophers for as long as there has been philosophy. Worth’s hero Ken Feinberg (Michael Keaton) has an even harder task – not only does he have to quantify the worth of a human life, he has to put that value into cash, making a spiritual quandary into a coldly physical one. It’s a soul-straining and compelling moral struggle that Sara Colangelo’s film doesn’t quite get to the heart of, leaving us with a predictable and awards-y true story that lacks the necessary gut punch.

Feinberg was the lawyer assigned to draw up the Victims’ Compensation Fund following the 9/11 attacks, persuading 7,000 bereaved families to take government payouts based on their lost loved ones’ earning potential instead of suing the airlines for damages that would have cratered the entire industry. It’s a deeply unsavoury job, prioritising airline profits over real human loss and grief, but the catch is that without this deal, there’s a very good chance that none of the bereaved get any compensation at all, unless they can afford years of high-end legal fees.

Colangelo captures the spirit-sapping nature of the work with a deeply desaturated colour palette, all grey skies and soulless office buildings, which does effectively immerse you in the exhausted mindset of Feinberg and his team, but also makes for a pretty drab viewing experience. You end up wanting just a little bit more directorial ambition from Colangelo – who managed to draw out a career-best performance from Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Kindergarten Teacher – both to keep things visually interesting, and to dive deeper into the profound ethical conflicts that drive Feinberg.

Instead, the film is mostly surface level, Max Borenstein’s script working through the events of the story in the most efficient, straight-laced way possible and lacking the punch and fire of similar legal-minded films like Dark Waters or even Keaton’s own Spotlight. Keaton himself is on fine form, sporting a thick Massachusetts action and thrusting Feinberg’s own emotional barriers to the fore as he is forced to see the victims as more and more human, instead of the comfortable, anonymous numbers they appear as in his documents. Amy Ryan also impressive as Feinberg’s lieutenant Camille Biros, but Stanley Tucci is uncharacteristically muted as Charles Wolff, one of the bereaved parties.

In constant opposition to Feinberg’s corporate-backed and inflexible scheme, Wolff appears as the voice of the dispossessed, but Tucci never quite conjures the requisite rage or grief, his performance instead feeling nervous and mannered. It’s a very rare misstep for one of Hollywood’s most reliable supporting actors, but it means that Wolff’s burgeoning respect for Feinberg doesn’t carry the emotional heft needed to sell what ends up being a pretty saccharine finale. Ironically, this isn't worth your time.

Worth is out now in UK cinemas and on Netflix from 3 September.