OptusNet Movies

Movie Info

Rating:
(MA)

Cast:
Nicolas Cage, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Michael Pena, William J. Jimeno, Nick Damici, Connor Paolo, Anthony Piccininni, Alexa Gerasimovich, Morgan Flynn, Armando Riesco, Jay Hernandez, Jon Bernthal,

Director:
Oliver Stone

Producer:
Moritz Borman, Debra Hill, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Oliver Stone

Running Time:
125 minutes

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World Trade Center

Review by Andrew L. Urban:
It is a fascinating moment in cinema history, five years after the shattering terrorist attacks on America via hijacked passenger jets taking off from New York. The first film to deal with the event is United 93 (released in Australia August 17), made by British director Paul Greengrass. The second is World Trade Center (released October 5) made by Oliver Stone. No two films could be more different in approach and style. Where United 93 is a brisk, taut, unsentimental re-enactment more or less in real time, of the events on one of the four planes, Stone's film is a sentiment-laden film in which the drama is presented more or less like a Hollywood disaster movie, focusing on two men trapped in the rubble of the collapsed towers.

In Stone's film, cinematic licence allows him to portray delirium sequences endured by Jimeno, in which he sees Jesus holding out a bottle of water. Both men have flashbacks to moments of love and family, which we also see. We see their families go through the trauma of their disappearance, and so on.

World Trade Center also differs in that stars inhabit the main characters - from Nicolas Cage to Maria Bello. This adds to the film's movie credentials, and while this is no disgrace, it does alter the way we react to the film. It's harrowing and moving, but it remains a film, a film that asks to be consumed as drama - with a message. The message is that Americans showed humanity, courage and defiance in the face of the attacks, and the contrast between the "bastards" (a word given to a Wisconsin policeman to utter in anger at the unfolding event) who perpetrated the attacks and the American folks can not be greater. It is by comparison that we can best assess movies that deal with similar material, and WTC suffers by this comparison: however, I happily urge everyone to see both. These are stories of history that have profound and irrevocable implications for our world.

There's a DVD commentary by director Oliver Stone and Will Jimeno, Scott Strauss, John Bucshing and Paddy McGee, as well as deleted and extended scenes with optional director's commentary.

Published February 15, 2007