The film has been criticized for its portrayal of German passenger Christian Adams, who is portrayed as counseling appeasement, to the point the passengers restrain him when he tries to warn the hijackers, despite the absence of any evidence that he did so. It was also reported that Adams's widow did not cooperate with the filmmakers due to the emotional pain. Sunday Times critic Cosmo Landesman mused, "Surely one of the passengers didn't phone home to point out that there was a cowardly German on board who wanted to give in?""A terrifying flight back in time" June 04, 2006 The Times Critic John Harris suggested in a Guardian blog, "there will surely be all kinds of cries about old European surrender monkeys, the United States' contrasting backbone etc."Skating on thin air May 25, 2006 http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk, accessed June 11, 2006"United 93 actor defends portrayal". BBC.co.uk. Erich Redman, who portrayed Adams in the film, has stated he did not intend to portray Adams as cowardly but as a man who "never made rash decisions and everything he did was always well-considered".
