Worth

In the years following the 9/11 attacks, the US government initiated an official victim compensation scheme, in part to prevent bereaved families from suing the airline industry. This fact-based drama from Sara Colangelo (The Kindergarten Teacher) follows the difficult process of putting a dollar tally beside each victim, from CEOs to kitchen dishwashers. In a carefully calibrated performance, Michael Keaton plays esteemed lawyer Ken Feinberg, the scheme's so-called "Special Master", who develops a formula to offer fair compensation at every income level. However, his legal team are unprepared for the sheer outpouring of grief they encounter, with relatives less interested in a monetary figure than someone to listen to their often harrowing stories. Colangelo's film offers a thoughtful, sensitive framework through which to approach the almost unimaginable pain of those events, even if the script's ticking-clock narrative sometimes feels too neatly laid out. Keaton shines as a dedicated rationalist discovering a more humane perspective, ably matched by the marvellous Stanley Tucci as a wily activist running the formidable Fix The Fund protest group. The result is a sobering, reflective but ultimately rewarding memorial.