Movie a 3, special features a 6

Rating: 6/10 (27 May 2012)

Just to get the full disclosure out of the way, I cannot think of one Nicolas Cage performance that I can stand. For whatever reason, everything he does is counter to what I enjoy seeing. Whether or not that has an impact on my rating of this film, I'm really not sure. Just wanted to get that out of the way for honesty's sake.
Now on to the movie itself! The beginning seemed to hold promise for a few minutes, but there's just something unpleasant about the way it was filmed that makes watching it a painful experience. And for me, it wasn't painful in a sympathetic or patriotic way, just painful in a "wow this movie isn't any good" kind of way. It has very few redeeming points to it for me. The acting wasn't awful (Cage being the exception, but refer to my opening disclaimer for that one), the script was passable enough, the camera work was mediocre, it just left me with an overall feeling of "meh."
If there's anything good that I can say for the movie, I did enjoy how it focused on the interaction of these two men and how they managed to survive rather than focusing on the source of their predicament. In many ways it can be called more of a personal drama film than a film about September eleventh.
However, I strongly suggest watching the movie with the commentary on. One of those who narrates through it is Will Jimeno and it was really an enriching and touching experience to hear all that he had to say about his experiences. The special features are significantly more valuable than the movie itself.