cynical and insincere movie experience

Rating: Null/10 (7 March 2007)

Set against the backdrop of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States comes this dramatization of the true account of two N.Y.C. police officers—both stable family men—who lead a courageous rescue to try and save the remaining survivors inside the World Trade Center, that is until a secondary accident leaves them trapped beneath the wreckage. Well-crafted film is acted with strength and conviction, but the dramatic aspect of the story fails to convince or generate any real, genuine emotion, and the conclusion is gratuitously patriotic. You'd expect a lot more substance from director Stone, but what wants to be a triumphant, heartfelt tale of heroism and survival instead comes off as a hollow and ponderous movie trying to cash in on a sad chapter in American history. **