IMHO #2 – WORLD TRADE CENTER
When I first heard that Oliver Stone was going to direct a film about the 9/11 tragedy, I started to think about the various conspiracy theories that would be present in the film (“The US planned it!” “There were no terrorists!” “It was all for oil!” “Didn’t you see Fahrenheit 911?”).

Oy.

Well, there are no conspiracy theories in this movie at all. It’s surprisingly patriotic (the first shot is a blurred shot of an alarm clock which creates a basic red, white and blue color palette) and emotional (One of the trapped Port Authority Police officers has a vision of Jesus Christ which inspires him to stay alive and another off-service Marine feels “called” by GOD to help at Ground Zero and ends up finding the two officers buried in the ruins.). Stone does a masterful job of juggling the POV’s of the story – from the trapped officers to their respective wives to the rescue volunteers. His eye for reproduction is uncanny. Every shot of the WTC ruins were eerily accurate.

Nicolas Cage turns in a decent performance as an everyday “Jes’ Folks” type of guy. Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal also turn in decent performances but aren’t given much more to do than cry and look worried. (Then again, what else could the family members of those missing people do on that horrible day but weep and worry?)

So far, there have been two major films about the 9-11 tragedy: United 93 and World Trade Center. Of the two, I think that United 93 is a much more effective film and has a much deeper emotional impact.

Final Grade for World Trade Center: B

(I don’t include Fahrenheit 911 here because it wasn’t a film and I don’t think it’s a true documentary. I think it’s a big, steaming bowl of elephant urine. If you want to see a fascinating documentary about the 9-11 tragedy, two French documentary filmmakers were shooting a film about a FDNY company when the planes hit the towers. It is a riveting documentary. Even thinking about it gives me the chills. As soon as I find out the name of the film, I’ll post it.)