The 2nd film this year on the tragedy of 9/11

Rating: 6/10 (1 January 2007)

A few months ago I wrote a rave review on UNITED 93 which told of the ill-fated plane that crashed in PA instead of the White House on that fateful day 9/11. That movies WILL be on my top 10 list for 2006.
This film WORLD TRADE CENTER starring Nicolas Cage will NOT be on my top 10.
Oliver Stone directed this, & in the first 20 minutes or so, He created some excellent suspense & crowd scenes, He like Steven Speilburg & Cecic B.DeMille are & were the best at crown scenes,
For most of the balance of the film we are buried with 2 of the trapped policemen in the rubble of an elevator shaft, waiting for rescue. We hear there thoughts & see happy moments as they remember there families & friends, Regretfully these are scenes & memories we have seen in many disaster type films, over the years.
I only wish the writers conceived of a better story line, This is supposedly based on what these 2 men & there families told the writers.
This may have read good on paper,but visually it was boring.
Nicolas Cage is one of the 2 men,( I do not remember the other actors name, nor did I ever hear of him before). Mr. Cage is better as light comedy actor than he is in a serious drama like this film.
What made UNITED 93 great(for me at least) was that it had a no-name-cast & I was sitting on the edge of my seat watching it. In this film I was almost falling asleep. Since I knew both trapped men survived there was no suspense,The various family members stories were all stock situations.
The productions values especially the first 20 minutes are excellent, I only wish the balance was as good.
rating **1/2 out of 4----72 points out of 100--IMDb 6 out of 10