Howard Lutnick became the media’s go-to talking head in those horrific days following 9/11. He was CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost a staggering 658 employees (including his younger brother) working in the top five floors of the World Trade Center’s north tower. Lutnick tearfully vowed on TV to take care of their families, and marshaled a skeleton staff of employees (who, like Lutnick, were not in the main office when the planes hit) to miraculously keep Cantor in business when the bond market reopened just two days later.

The media’s lionization of Lutnick turned to harsh condemnation when the CEO previously known for his ruthlessness in business quickly cut off the paychecks of employees who died — most of whom were officially listed for months as missing.

Lutnick insisted this was necessary to keep Cantor from falling into the hands of creditors, but there was also much public criticism from the families that he was moving much too slowly in fulfilling his extravagant promises.

Directed by Danielle Gardner, whose brother Doug was killed in the attack, “Out of the Clear Blue Sky’’ is a compelling account of these heavily covered events, as well as the lesser-known story of Lutnick making good with a share of the firm’s profits and a decade of medical coverage for the families.

Perhaps inevitably, the relentless focus on Lutnick and his family (including some cheesy re-enactments and footage of too many anniversary events sponsored by Cantor) makes this documentary sometimes seem like an infomercial.