Is ‘Worth’ Based on a True Story? What To Know About Kenneth Feinberg and the 9/11 Victim Fund

How much is a life worth? Attorney Kenneth Feinberg faced that question in a way he never had before in 2001, when he was put in charge of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Now, the new Netflix movie Worth—which is based on Feinberg’s own 2005 memoir and began streaming on Netflix today—is retelling the biggest dilemma of Feinberg’s career.

Directed by Sara Colangelo and written by Max Borenstein (who adapted Feinberg’s book), Worth stars Michael Keaton as the initially cold-hearted lawyer faced with the impossible task of putting a dollar sign on an incalculable loss. While the movie is undeniably on Feinberg’s side, the lawyer had plenty of critics. In the film, most of those criticisms are voiced by Stanley Tucci, who plays a real-life family member of a victim of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, who went so far as to create a website to highlight the flaws in Feinberg’s plan for the fund.

Also starring Amy Ryan, Tate Donovan, Shunori Ramanathan, and Laura Benanti, Worth first premiered over a year and a half ago, at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Now, a week before the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, it has arrived on Netflix. While only the families and victims involved will be able to speak the film’s accuracy, the true story behind Worth is a not-often talked about aspect of this horrific tragedy.

Is Worth based on a true story?

Yes. Worth is based on the true story of the U.S. government’s September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. The fund was created as part of the airline bailout, and compensated victims and families of victims of the attack, as long as they agreed not to sue the airlines.

Who is Kenneth Feinberg?

Kenneth Feinberg, played by Michael Kean in Worth, is the attorney who was appointed “Special Master” of the Victim Compensation Fund and was responsible for determining how much money each family would receive. Throughout the process, Feinberg was criticized by relatives of 9/11 victims who attempted the process of applying for the fund. According to a 2002 New York Times report, many family members and their lawyers complained that Feinberg and his staff repeatedly delayed decisions, offered inconsistent information, and failed to deliver on promises of compensation.

The Times report read, “Members of one family who received an award that was 25 percent less than what Mr. Feinberg had personally pledged say they now feel betrayed, and are warning other victims to ‘be careful.'”

In 2005, Feinberg wrote a book telling his side of the story, titled What is Life Worth? The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11. In it, Feinberg described his eight-part plan to compensate the victims, which included a formula to calculate a dollar amount for each recipient. Worth screenwriter Max Borenstein based the movie on Feinberg’s book.

Where is Kenneth Feinberg now?

Feinberg is still working as a lawyer and was recently hired by The Boeing Company in July, 2019 to oversee the distribution of compensation to the families of victims of 737 MAX airplane crashes. He is also an adjunct professor of law at several universities, including Columbia University School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, New York University School of Law, the University of Virginia School of Law and at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

Feinberg, now 75, has been involved in the promotion of Worth and attended the film’s premiere at Sundance Film Festival in 2020.

Who is Charles Wolf?

Charles Wolf, played by Stanley Tucci in the film, lost his wife Katherine in the September 11 attacks and was a vocal critic of Feinberg and the Victim Compensation Fund. As you see in the film, he went as far as to create a website, www.fixthefund.org, which is still operational to this day. However, as of December 1, 2003, the website encourages victims and their families to apply for the fund, and states that “there have been major improvements. Mr. Feinberg has adjusted both the way he runs the program and his attitude, in a positive direction.”

In 2002, the real Wolf spoke about Feinberg to the New York Times. ”I believe in his sincerity, and I want this program to succeed for all the families,” he said. ”But nothing short of a major action on his part to resolve his missteps, coupled with a significant apology, will begin to set things right.”

Watch Worth on Netflix