This review was originally composed on August 10, 2006
I've been avoiding everything about this film because I wanted no expectations. Seeing Matt exit the theater last night and getting his reaction, gave me the first clue as what I was to expect.
World Trade Center... Those three words evoke horror, sadness, death, anger, fear, confusion and according to Oliver Stone's new film, hope. The film is the story of two Port Authority Police Department officers, Sgt. John McLoughlin and Officer Will Jimeno, played by Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena respectively, who were two of the twenty to pulled from the rubble.
So how does one review a story such as this? This is an impossible task. Allow me a disclaimer of sorts. In the following, I hope that you will see the film through two lenses. One, as a story about a devastation tragedy whose repercussions are still felt today. And two, through the eyes of someone who loves the art of film.
In the film's heart- pounding opening minutes, we watch the attack unfold through the eyes of these first responders. As the routine morning becomes anything but routine, the officers glimpse news reports and get bits of information from cell phone calls to family members as they race downtown. But what's most striking is how little the men know about what's really happening. As the officers prepare to the climb the North Tower, they are unaware the South Tower has even been hit. Communications gear is failing, and there is confusion all around.
As Sgt. McLoughlin leads his crew into the tower, it crumbles around them. Yelling for everyone to 'run to the elevator shaft' they officers scramble in futility. What remains is the struggle for survival by McLoughlin and Jimeno.
The quality cast does the script justice. Nicholas Cage disappears behind the mustache and into the accent of Sgt. McLoughlin. Pena is immediately endeared as the likable rookie Officer Jimeno. Their performances are even more noteworthy considering they spend the majority of the movie flat on their backs. They are also well supported by Maria Bello and Magie Gyllenhaal as their respective wives, who spend much of the film enduring an agonizing wait to learn the fate of their husbands.
It's not often that I mention scenes of a film, but World Trade Center is filled with a few moments that tell a lifetime in a fleeting glance. One such scene, is of Cage opening his eyes. In that moment, it's no longer an actor, it's more than McLoughlin, it's you sucked into that hell hole. Crushed under a twisted mound of steel, concrete, pipes, wires and God knows what, desperation and fear swirl around you. That moment is unforgettable.
I have a love/hate relationship with Stone. I won't apologize for a little more hate because of this movie. Oliver Stone's direction and storytelling is straightforward, but manipulating, self-serving, and all money. The cinematography was good, but couldn't you remember to remove the boom-mike from the shots?! Stone never shows the impact of the planes, which is a good move on his part; in fact, we never see a single plane, only the shadow of one, which is an artistic decision with an evocative result. There's a lot of dramatic pauses, which are intended to give gravity to terse lines of dialog that immediately follow and are punctuated with more emotional cues from Craig Armstrong's score.
It's been unavoidable for me to compare this film to United 93. If I may, I will continue. Director Greengrass subtly employed the techniques of cinema to ultimately serve the events his film depicted, while Stone employs the techniques of cinema to shape the events into a narrative that's palatable and marketable, and to cue the viewer on how to feel. World Trade Center is a sentimental film, and I feel it has no right to be. Stone's film exudes a certain degree of obligatory respectfulness, but nobility is absent because of an obvious bid to be seen as noble. What disappoints most is how Hollywood everything is.
