Oliver Stone's World Trade Center is a big blockbuster retelling of a great American tragedy.
When Paul Greengrass made United 93, all I heard was cries of "too soon." People were worried that the film was exploitative. We feared big budget special effects, cheesy voice over and overdone hollywood score. What we got was a very real and touching film. Not many people bought that ticket, but the people who did praised the film. In fact, United 93 was one of the best reviewed of the year (Top 50 of all time even).
Oliver Stone's September 11th film tells the story the Hollywood way, complete with big stars, computer generated effects, voiceovers, flashbacks, slow motion shots, all set to a sentimental score. This is the type of film where the characters share information about their back-story with each other, even though they have known each other for years. It's not realistic. The only purpose of such dialogue is to let us in. Every character has a story arc, including the background players. This movie is almost everything that people initially feared that United 93 would be, but somehow it pulls it off.
If United 93 was Schindler's List, then World Trade Center would be Apollo 13. It's definitely a Hollywood film, but not to the extent of a Pearl Harbor. Screenwriter Andrea Berloff crafted a tight Hollywood script without leaping too far off the ground of realism.
The movie begins with the beginning of a new day. It could be any day, but it's not. This day is September 11th 2001. We see the twin towers in the New York skyline. They jump out at us. The same reaction we might have if Godzilla was smashing buildings. But it's just a normal skyline. I would be interested to know the psychological reasons behind this. Why is it so shocking to see the towers in the New York City skyline?
Nicolas Cage plays John McLoughlin, one of two Port Authority police officers who became trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center. The other officer Will Jimeno is played masterfully by Michael Pena who many may remember as Daniel in Paul Haggis' 2004 Academy Award winning film Crash. Cage took a few chances in his portrayal of McLoughlin that don't pay off. His forced New York accent and fabricated strut come off as over the top cartoony in some scenes. Luckily for the movie (and not so luckily for McLoughlin in real life), Cage is buried under a giant "stack of pick-up sticks" for most of the film. When dehydration starts to kick in, the goofy accident becomes less annoying.
Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays Pena's pregnant wife, is the heart of this film. We are forced to watch her isolated in her home, away from New York City, while she waits, anticipating only the worst. She asks her father how to tell her young daughter if and when the bad news comes. It's heartbreaking.
We've all seen the footage of the Trade Centers many times over. Not only have we seen the footage, but we've seen it from what seems like thousands of different angles. WTC offers us a new angle. In one of the more incredible scenes in the film, we follow officers McLoughlin and Pena as the run for their lives in the concourse between the towers while the building starts to implode. This scene is so terrifying, and believable. You aren't just watching as a passive observer, you are in the building with them, running for your life.
A minor complaint: One of the characters in the film complains about the news showing the towers going down over and over again. And even after that statement, Oliver Stone continues to display the footage on repeat. Okay, we get the point already.
This movie is filled with so many good moments. When a former Marine arrives on the scene he makes the observation: "It's like god made a curtain with the smoke, shielding us from what we're not yet ready to see." Gyllenhaal walks down the street, no one is outside in her suburban neighborhood. The television flashes from all the houses help to light the pavement. It's one of those moments that is simple, but at the same time, so real.
Her daughter asks the question she has been dreading all along, "Is Daddy coming home?" She struggles to come up with an answer, but only "I don't know" comes out. It's a gut-wrenching scene which is hard to watch.
While trapped under the rubble, McLoughlin and Jimeno engage in conversations ranging from a movie quote from GI Jane, to their family lives. What if Dominick Pezzulo hadn't switched places with Will, the logistics of how long they can live without food or water. The goal is to stay awake, and stay alive. At one point Jimeno daydreams about Jesus offering him bottled water, which he turns down. I'm hoping stuff like this is based on what really happened. Otherwise it comes off as fetid Hollywood cheese. (UPDATE: It's now been confirmed that this daydream did actually "happen") Conversations about their respective families turn into flashbacks that are probably unwarranted, but not horrible.
One thing this movie got right was the little details. In one scene one of the officers claims that he heard a missile missed the Pentagon. The misinformation that ran rampant that day was incredible. It was great that Paramount used news footage from the many different networks that covered the events of the day. Usually corporations like to pimp out their own corporate empire (FOX NEWS is the only news program in most Fox television shows). The real life footage was piped into many scenes throughout, helping to ground the film closer to reality.
The production design is top notch. The attention to little details like the signs inside the Trade Centers, or the WOW sticker inside the policeman's locker.
What's most shocking about this film is how strait and narrow Oliver Stone chose to tell it. Stone is notoriously known for directing historical films in a controversial way. Not only is the film missing a conspiracy theory, it's missing it's originality. Again, that's not a bad thing. But watching this film you would have no idea it was an Oliver Stone film. Even his camera angles are shot dead on. Absent is the cinematography, style and editing that you would expect from the man who made Any Given Sunday. I'm wondering if he was afraid to take chances on such a controversial story.
It seems to me that United 93 probably took most of the public backlash. More people will probably see see World Trade Center. May-be it's because of the more upbeat ending. May-be it's because it offers us real movie stars. May-be it's because United 93 was used as decoy to defuse all the negative public outcry. United 93 is much different film, which I believe to be superior.
We should never forget this day, the people who died, and the heros who stepped forward. Both films help accomplish this goal.
World Trade Center brilliantly captures the trauma and fear of the day. It's moving, powerful, and shouldn't be missed.
/Film Rating: 7.5 / 10