Stone Offers Both a Moving Personal Account and a Safe Perspective of 9/11

Rating: 7/10 (28 August 2006)

Compared to the visceral power of the documentary-like "United 93", maverick filmmaker Oliver Stone atypically goes a more traditional route in focusing his 2006 film on the two police officers who were able to survive the collapse of the World Trade Center at Ground Zero. Instead of going for an emotional gut-punch on a broad canvas, the controversial filmmaker plays it safe by depoliticizing the film from possible conspiracy theories and emphasizing far more on the personal impact. The result still works powerfully, but the movie sometimes feels myopic in making the rest of the day's tragedies a mere backdrop for the central story. Moreover, screenwriter Andrea Berloff, working from the remembrances of the real people, brings a certain TV-movie-level predictability to the narrow focus of the plot despite the devastating power of key scenes.
The movie takes advantage of the audience's knowing anticipation of the events at the beginning, but Stone blessedly doesn't exploit the tragedies more than necessary. While he incorporates global reaction to the events, the story quickly hones in on John McLoughlin, who leads a volunteer brigade of four Port Authority officers to the site. In the midst of their evacuation efforts, they find themselves buried in the rubble with McLoughlin and Will Jimeno the only two who survive under several feet of debris. The film then alternates between the dark desperation of the two immobilized men and the agonizing waiting game experienced by their families. There is no getting around the harrowing personal drama unfolding, and Stone is careful not to step out of bounds when it comes to the heroism displayed that day by all the real-life characters shown.
The acting is quite sturdy and well-grounded. After a long drought since "Adaptation", Nicolas Cage plays the taciturn McLoughlin economically, while Michael Peña, who provided the most riveting moments in the otherwise manipulative "Crash" last year, brings an honest combination of ebullience and poignancy to Jimeno. Even though the wives are decidedly secondary roles here, Maria Bello continues to gain stature in her gritty portrayal of McLoughlin's wife Donna, while Maggie Gyllenhaal plays closer to the vest as Jimeno's pregnant wife Allison. As the rescuers, Michael Shannon plays former Marine Dave Karnes with steely, singular resolve, and Stephen Dorff and Frank Whaley make vivid impressions as fireman Scott Strauss and reactivated paramedic Chuck Serieka, respectively. Seamus McGarvey contributed the evocative cinematography, and Jan Roelfs' production design is piercingly accurate to our collective memories of how Ground Zero looked on that fateful day. It's a fine, moving drama in many ways but in certain respects, too safe in Stone's hands.