The human spirit emerges from the rubble...

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2006)

I sat maybe 5th row in the hopes I wouldn't have people around me. The movie started and the kids who sat a few rows behind me were mildly yucking it up. I was afraid I was going to go ballistic on someone if they disrespected the events about to take place. Luckily they quieted down by the sheer force of the movie.
The movie can almost be divided in two parts. The people underground who were pinned by massive concrete rubble and the "outside world." Those who eventually got trapped were Port Authority Cops who showed up at the WTC just after the planes hit and you could see a tower in flames. This was the moment I was dreading because I know people who were inside and I'll be damned if I was going to tolerate some exploitational use of the carnage that was about to happen. Thankfully, there was no exploitation. When people were fleeing for their lives the music on the soundtrack didn't sound like an action flick with high-energy music adding to the feeling of excitement. No, it was solemn. I always note the way the music is added to understand the film makers portrayal of violence. I felt assured when it was heard to accent the sadness of lost lives, not to exploit it.
They showed some archival news-clips as well as voice-over news reports. The contradiction of the earliest reports on it being a small plane but then it was a large plane. The contradiction of the flight number of the plane that went down in Pennsylvania which eventually known as #93. None of it was done to insinuate conspiracy, they were careful not to use these tragic events to make a political statement. The movie really wasn't about who & why 9/11 took place, but about bravery and hope and love.
So the guys are in one of the towers and suddenly they're trapped somewhere beneath. They realize they may not ever see their families again. Once they get trapped the movie unravels as cutting between them down beneath and the rescue teams atop as well as the family members who grieve hoping for word that their loved ones still live. Family members regret things they said yet cling to things they said and cherish in memory moments they had together when things were nice.
You can't help but feel that we should all treat our loved ones as best we can while we have them because you never know what events may make your next parting the last time you will ever see them again. We live in a crazy world.
It's a moving film. Done sensitively, if that is a concern of yours, I can tell you it's handled well. There was also a certain cathartic effect where I somehow felt better about things when I left. The human spirit is a beautiful, flexible force which will never die.