World Trade Center (9 August 2006)
directed by Oliver Stone
starring Nicholas Cage, Michael Peņa, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Connor Paolo, Anthony Piccininni, Armando Riesco, Jay Hernandez, Jude Ciccolella, Cliff Bemis, Ned Eisenberg, Nicholas Turturro, Danny Nucci, Tom Wright, Brad William Henke
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MPAA rating: Studio: Paramount Pictures, Double Feature Films, Intermedia Films Script: Andrea Berloff Music: Craig Armstrong Running time: 125 minutes Tags: airplanes; Drama; explosions; Family Crisis; Historical; New York City; police; September 11 2001 Tactical strength: [6/10]
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for intense and emotional content, some disturbing images and language
I find it tricky writing a review on Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. If you criticize the movie, someone will mistake the criticism of the portrayal for a criticism of the people or the event itself. Nevertheless, I will try to criticize Stone's movie without impugning the real people or events.
As news of the attacks came in, the port authority police sent a team of officers to the World Trade Center to assist with the evacuation of the buildings. Sergeant John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage) lead a team of other police into one of the towers, but the building collapsed before they could begin their rescue efforts. John and one other officer, Will Jimeno (Michael Peņa) survive the collapse, but debris pins them so they cannot move. For most of the movie, we watch John and Will talk back and forth, buoying each other up and promising each other to stay alive. We also follow the officer's wives as they deal with the possibility of losing their husbands. Donna McLoughlin (Maria Bello) tries to keep her family together by keeping on with her regular housework, but eventually at the insistence of one of her sons drives in to New York. Allison Jimeno (Maggie Gyllenhaal) must deal with both her parents and Will's parents at her house, which seems to make her more tense than if she were left alone to deal with her worry.
At several points the McLoughlins have flashbacks to times they remember fondly, and I like how Stone implies that both characters have the flashback at the same time. He starts with John remembering an event, and when the flashback ends, he cuts to Donna seeming to remember the same event. This connection between individuals emphasizes the main message in World Trade Center: that human beings need connections to other human beings. Clearly, in times of trouble, people come to each other's aide, but Stone makes a point that we should make these connections without a tragic event to bring them forward. John says, "People think I'm not friendly because I don't smile enough." John recognizes that he should have made more connections to the officers in his unit. Also, part way through their ordeal, Will starts using "John" instead of "Sarge," signifying the establishment of a deeper human connection.
Stone does an excellent job of developing his characters, in spite of having his main characters immobolized in a pile of rubble. He also never allows the story to get overly sentimental and avoids overtly manipulating the audience's emotions. The moral gets a little preachy at the end by having John narrate the message over scenes of a McLoughlin/Jimeno reunion picnic.
Many critics have discussed whether enough time has passed for us to have a movie about 9/11. I think we do need Stone's message of building interpersonal relations. How many of us have deeper human connections with our co-workers now than we had before 9/11? Most people I know have settled back into a regular routine. Sure, we all acknowledge that in times of crisis, we will all pull together, but in the short term, we still just have many casual relationships.
In effect, the collapse of the World Trade Center really provides just a setting for the events in this movie. The story line follows two men trapped in a collapsed building. Really, the story could have taken place in any similar disaster, such as a coal mine or an avalanche. If you look at the plot as a typical disaster film, you cannot help admit that much of the impact of World Trade Center comes from the setting and not from the plot. Looking at the story as if it weren't the World Trade Center, I don't think the film would have had the same impact. The moral of the story wouldn't have hit nearly as hard, and we probably would have criticized the story for not building up the characters enough.
I think Stone does an excellent job at not trying to use the events of the World Trade Center collapse as carte blanche to manipulate the emotions of the audience, but without this setting, the events of the movie wouldn't really have had much impact. Our main characters unflinchingly did their job and were the lucky ones to survive. Only twice in the movie do we see unique reactions to the tragedy. First, Dave Karnes (Michael Shannon) leaves his job in Connecticut to search the rubble for survivors. He feels moved by the events and takes direct action. Second, Donna McLoughlin comforts a complete stranger in the hospital. Donna recognizes that most people will not have their loved ones returning from the disaster, and she reaches out to a mother who most probably has lost her son. These personal changes show the real triumphs of the day, and I would have liked to see more of these moments.
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