By Tom Jozwik
Dramatic yet lighthearted, instructive yet entertaining, a true 9/11 story—and a decidedly endearing one.
That’s “Come From Away,” a “filmed version of the award-winning Broadway musical” streaming as of today on Apple TV+.
“Come From Away” takes place in the remote Newfoundland town of Gander, where dozens of United States-bound airplanes and several thousand airplane passengers are grounded in the wake of the 2001 catastrophe. On a simple set (the main element of which is a collection of straight-backed chairs), clad in everyday clothes, such Broadway luminaries as Petrine Bromley, Jenn Colella, Q. Smith, Joel Hatch and Jim Walton assume multiple roles as they convincingly relate a parable of kindnesses extended and reciprocated, inhibitions discarded, friendships formed.
For the few days of the story, small-town Gander is a snapshot of diversity—ethnic, cultural, religious. My favorite scene, in a church, begins with the singing of Sebastian Temple’s hymn “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace,” which neatly morphs into prayerful Jewish and Muslim chants.
Gifted “Come From Away” songwriters David Hein and Irene Sankoff served as executive producers for the film, which Christopher Ashley (who helmed the original Broadway production) directed. The movie runs 1:46, carries a TV-14 rating … and now heads my unreservedly recommended films for 2021 list.