The result is 93 very long minutes' worth of admirably committed actors putting themselves through the emotional wringer to very little end.

Phelan makes nice use of the New York locations, but all the trees in Central Park can't make up for a clichéd script and characters who speak entirely in platitudes.

Even if it ends on a hopeful note, this is a feel-bad movie that leaves a bitter aftertaste.

A painfully sincere indie drama that isn't content to evoke only the misery of 9/11 -- it has to reference TWA Flight 800 for extra grief.

At least Into The Fire can't be accused of misleading audiences. From its overwrought opening narration to early shots of an empty Ferris wheel, it promises to be a dour, pretentious, humorless time-waster, and it doggedly makes good on that promise.