9/11/01 - We'll Never Forget

Rating: 9/10 (11 September 2010)

"I'm just a singer of simple songs, I'm not a, real political man. I watch CNN, but I'm not sure I can tell ya, the difference in Iraq and Iran. But I know Jesus and I talk to God, and I remember this from when I was young. Faith, hope, and love are some good things that ya gave us, but the greatest is love." - Alan Jackson, "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning".
Bravery, courage, struggle, and survival are the recurring themes in Oliver Stone's film World Trade Center. Today marks the ninth anniversary when the tragedy we know when two planes collided in both the Northern and Southern Tower and the Pentagon. It was a tragic day and I'm sure 95% of us know where we were when the moment/instant came when we were informed on the incident. I was home sick at five years old playing with blocks listening to CMT when all of a sudden it flashed to the picture of the North Tower with smoke billowing out of it. The concept of terrorism and a terrorist attack was foreign to a five year old so I assumed that it was either and accident or put on for a show. World Trade Center captures detail after detail down to the slightest spec of information on the two New York police officers who were buried under the rubble and debris left from the fallen South Tower. Both Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena give a four star performance and their strong acting rarely lets up.
I want to start off by saying Nicholas Cage is on my list for worst actors. I've never found him amusing to watch and I've always thought of him as overrated and overpaid. He's done some fair movies in his career like Leaving Las Vegas and National Treasure, but overall his filmography is loaded with overbudget and overrated garbage that has the interest level of either a remake or a movie that's been done a million times. Much to my surprise, Cage gives a very respectable and highly amusing performance in this film. His acting skills are profoundly shown here and he brings out his life rather than just being someone who "collects the check" in half of his movies. This one we see some of his best skills flood out on the screen like a never-ending wave of nourishment.
If you're introduced to the story of the two New York police officers who were trapped under the rubble of the South Tower for hours, than the story is the exact same thing. We see the North Tower on fire ten minutes in the film, before you know it we see John McLaughlin and Will Jimeno inside the South Tower, and before you know it we see them under the South Tower. After they are called in, they arrive to the tower to see smoke just pouring out of the windows nonstop along with paper flying every which way like Mardi Gras confetti in the streets. So the scenery in the street shots are well done and recreated to the exact pin-point detail as they could've been.
I too admire the fascination in the events/timeline of September 11, 2001. Great facts and different features stem from that day and even though it's a day looked on by many as a great tragedy, it has interesting perks that make it a very amusing concept to learn about. For example, the questionable devil's face appearing in the smoke of the South Tower and the news reports are something I find extremely interesting since seeing it at five years old left me with just vivid memories of newscasters viewing the incident. The most interesting shots/bits of information are most definitely the news reports when we see a plane crash. You can hear and almost taste the reaction/fear brought down by most. It's a creepy feeling when watching the plane hit the building, even to this day.
World Trade Center is said not to be a political film by director himself Oliver Stone. While WTC is more of a disaster/docudrama then anything, I can tell it has the urge to strike up opinions on who's the better political party, Republican or Democrat. You can almost hence that the director wants to state his opinion on the matter, but instead just letting the characters take the lead in the recreation of the events taken place on September 11, 2001. Being very moved by the movie and the events taken place I call WTC a strong, powerful movie that not only captures the suspense and intensity of the day itself, but also takes into consideration the different points and dialog made by McLaughlin and Jimeno. The character's random and rambling dialog is definitely interesting and one of the strongest points of the movie without hesitation.
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Michael Pena, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Stephen Dorff, Jon Bernthal, Jay Hernandez, Michael Shannon, Donna Murphy, Frank Whaley, Jude Ciccolella, and Danny Nucci. Directed by: Oliver Stone.