The Year's Best Film, HANDS DOWN.

Rating: 10/10 (3 September 2006)

Sure, Oscar season hasn't hit just yet, but I am confident when I say that "World Trade Center" is the year's best movie. I say this as a critic with utter disdain for both Nicolas Cage, and a growing disappointment in Oiver Stone's work ever since "Natural Born Killers". Cage shines here, and Stone redeems himself. From that wrenching shot of a giant airplane silhouette snaking down a city street, Stone grabs you and never lets you go. He cuts no corners, showing, graphically and wrenchingly, the 9/11 terrorist attacks effect on the community. Burning papers fly everywhere. Subways, once full of activity, are now empty. Police officers return to the station, drenched in blood and shaken to the core. Although the film examines the world's reaction to the attacks, it's main focus is on Officers Mcgloughin and Jimeno, who were trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center buildings after the attack. Stone wisely chooses to darken the surroundings, train the camera on the men's soot-caked faces, and just let them emote. It's an approach that would have bombed with many actors, but Cage and Michael Pena are up to the challenge, letting their eyes tell the story, trading monosyllabic encouragements as they try to escape the metal and rock pinning them to the floor. A subplot focuses on the wives of the "First Responders", and manages to be both wrenching and uplifting at the same time. Magge Gylenhall in particular deserves Oscar attention for her turn as Mrs. Jimeno. This movie is a superb piece of work, and you owe it to yourself to see it.