Mary Fahl’s haunting, quiet rendition of “Dawning of the Day” against the backdrop of paper tumbling through Manhattan streets on grainy footage from a lonely firehouse security camera creates a mood to start “The Guys” that Americans will recollect easily.

More commonly heard — played through a bagpipe — at an Irish funeral, the peace conveyed in this song’s poetic mourning distracts viewers from the emotional journey in the film. It is the only music viewers will hear … the only music needed.

This is the story of a curious connection between Joan, a New York journalist (Sigourney Weaver) and Nick, a NYC fire captain (Anthony La Paglia). Brought together by tragedy, their journey of healing has broad reaching appeal.

“When was the last time I heard anyone say they needed a writer?” Joan says reverently as her words appear in typescript on screen. For a quiet fire captain facing the prospect of eight eulogies in the next few weeks, the need is real. The movie covers the writing of four eulogies in the course of a day. These are the eulogies of fictitious firemen, but they are the seamlessly integrated stories of the many heroes who died that day in the World Trade Center.

Both the four eulogies and Joan’s column, written over the days following the tragedy, fill the script. Emotions, memories, odd feelings, tokens of friendship and, appropriately, humor will connect viewers to the moving account in ways that are both unexpected and familiar.

If only a review could do justice to this movie in the same way this story captures the pain and healing taking place, even now, in New York and everywhere.

Touching scenes shot in New York streets and businesses capture the sadness, fear, love, unsettling change, happiness and abject devastation felt across the country but most acutely in New York City.

In her column, Joan describes waking several days after Sept. 11 with a blank mental slate.

“Fresh from sleep, it took time for the pain to reenter my memories,” she wrote.

That flooding back of desperation we all felt as we have been reminded of our loss in an unexpected place or situation. This flood of memories opens like a torrent watching “The Guys” unfold onscreen.

Guys that were young and old – quiet, irreverent, unexpected, and even first-time heroes are eulogized eloquently. The job is eulogized as well.

The tools of firemen and the community they formed are expanded to include all of America. The new sense of community felt between Americans is the tool that can heal the pain. Writing and talking about the stories of their lives gives anyone a chance to humanize a distant and dehumanizing tragedy.

“The Guys” is crafted with care and attention to the details of everyday life. It is not jingoism. It is a tribute … a eulogy to all those who died as heroes, friends, brothers and sisters. It is simply the best and most touching movie in both recent and distant memory.

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