World Trade Center

I was torn on whether or not to see World Trade Center. On the one hand I love Oliver Stone and knew this would be good. On the other hand, I wasn't sure if it would be too emotionally heavy or overly political. Given that some of Stone's previous films such as JFK and Born on the Fourth of July can be heavy handed on the politics and conspiracy theories, I wasn't sure I wanted to get into all that with 9/11.

I was wrong. This film is really great and it's not as emotionally wrenching as I had anticipated, and didn't have Stone's trademarked hallucinogen-induced trippy frenetic editing. Andrea Berloff writes an amazing screenplay and combined with Stone's gentle directing makes for a very touching and surprisingly uplifting story. This film is based on the true story of two New York Port Authority officers John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena) who spend most of the film trapped in the rubble of Tower 1 after it collapses on them during their attempt to help evacuate people.



The film starts as McLoughlin and Jimeno wake up to begin their day on that fateful September morning. The audience sees the events unfolding the way that the Port Authority officers did upon arrival. We know what happened that day, the pre-meditated attacks, the immense loss of life. We have all seen the footage of the planes crashing and the buildings collapsing over and over again. Stone avoids blatantly exploiting the situation to manipulate the audience's emotions by not showing the actual planes hitting or the towers collapsing. Everything is seen close up from the confused point of view of those Port Authority officers as the events unfolded to them. Shortly upon arriving, McLouglin and Jimeno become trapped under a collapsing tower. Everything happened so fast, just like it did for those people that day.

As the devastation unfolds in front of the rest of the nation, McLoughlin and Jimeno's wives are left to pace and worry about whether their husbands are alive or not. McLoughlin's wife, Donna, and Jimeno's wife, Allison, are played beautifully by Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal respectively. They show the emotions the rest of the world felt watching CNN and every other news broadcast; disbelief, shock and utter helplessness. Since this story is based on actual events, Stone has included small snippets of other things that really happened during that time. The Wisconsin police watching the attacks on television, then after they've travelled to ground zero, bbqing their famed Brats for the rescue crew with a big "Wisconsin loves N.Y." banner behind them. Small little bits like this helped personify the sudden closeness the world felt with one another. One thing that I loved about this film is that Stone pointed out that while the world will never be the same after those events, they also helped us as a disconnected society reconnect in a more gentle, helpful manner.



Another character that figures into the story, is Dave Karnes (Michael Shannon), an ex marine who is moved by what he sees on T.V. and goes down to ground zero to help with the rescue efforts. I knew going into this film that it was based on a true story and knew that Jimeno and McLoughlin got out alive, and anybody who has read anything on the film beforehand will know this. So I believe it's safe to say, that the Karnes and another marine discover Jimeno and McLoughlin. The rescue of those two men was very moving. I won't discuss the end, but I will say that Stone kept the story lighter by narrowing the focus on the story of McLoughlin and Jimeno.

I was afraid going in that it would be too heavy and provoke too much sadness to take all over again. This film was really a reminder of how the global community became a little smaller and a little closer that day. This was quite a departure from Stone's usual style, I like his usual style, too, but he did the story justice. Very good movie.

Stone will be in Regina in October for a lecture at the university, so I'm really hoping to hear him speak. I love Any Given Sunday (have it on DVD) and admire his (filmmaking) balls.

World Trade Center
8/10
Highly recommended
See it because...you are ready for an uplifting story that came out of 9/11, Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena (who totally rocked in Crash, btw), you like a good drama


More ramblings to come.....