Go to the movie's Web site before seeing

Rating: 9/10 (6 August 2006)

Before seeing a preview in my movie class this past week, I went to the official Web site, clicked on "In Their Own Words" and viewed interviews with the real people who are depicted in the film. I strongly suggest that you do that before seeing this movie. They give insight about the making of the film and their part in it as well as some fascinating behind-the-scenes anecdotes.
Three of us who went to the preview had very different opinions. I was the only one who had gone to the Web site and I liked it the best. One other thought it was okay, the third thought it was "too Hollywood," which the other two of us disagreed with. Our class as a whole seemed to give it a big thumbs up.
New Yorkers will probably have a different take on this movie from everyone else because we were there and we have lived with it every day since. I think it would be tough for anyone to watch, knowing what really happened that day, but I think everyone should see it if they want to get more of a personal view of what happened that day from the point of view of the people who risked their lives to enter the buildings. "World Trade Center" deliberately doesn't show the most sensational footage of the towers going down or the second plane hitting the building; it is about and from the perspective of the two Port Authority policemen who went in to evacuate people and got trapped, not knowing that the buildings had collapsed. And what was going on with their families as they awaited word of their fate.
The two producers of the film, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, spoke to us after the film. One memorable thing they said was that when they were creating the replica of the pancakes buildings through which they had to crawl and weave, the rescuers (the real ones) commented that it was not tight enough, that it was too open. The director and production people were astonished. When they made the openings much narrower, defying human capability to penetrate, the rescuers demonstrated how they got to the two trapped men, wriggling and curving their way down almost like snakes. That led to the real rescuers being asked to play themselves rather than actors. Knowing that made watching the film a richer experience. I credit Oliver Stone with trying to make every detail as true to life as possible.
The four main characters who played the trapped men and their wives -- Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal -- did their real-live counterparts proud. I don't want to get into the controversy of whether this movie is too early, too late, or whether it should have been made at all. The one thing I know from living in New York and hearing on virtually a daily basis since 9/11 about the diverse and contentious opinions of the 9/11 families is that people will weigh in passionately. The whole post-9/11 experience in New York brought out the best in people -- we bonded like never before and helped each other in every way for months afterward. This film gives a glimpse of the heart that New Yorkers really do have.
There will be more movies about that day -- I think this is a responsible, substantive, insightful first one.