Long-winded account of the 9/11 attacks

Rating: 5/10 (5 December 2016)

A somewhat "worthy" version of the September 11th attacks, told from the point of view of a group of policemen present in the foyer when the tower collapses on top of them. I didn't much like this film as much as I thought I would; in fact, it sent me to sleep, which really is a cardinal sin when the subject matter's as important as it is here. Oliver Stone was a great director back in the '80s, but his much-needed style is in short supply here, so that any old director could have done the job.
One problem I had was with the casting of Nicolas Cage, who I just didn't think was sympathetic enough to hold the viewer's attention. Cage isn't my favourite actor and he does nothing to dispel that image here, while other, better characters like the one Jay Hernandez plays fall by the wayside and way too much time is taken up with unnecessary sub-plots about the 'families back home' – please! I could have done without this mawkish stuff that drags the storyline down.
Another problem is that the film is very long winded. It starts off great, but halfway through the story's pretty much over and there's still another hour to go – it's as this point I fell asleep. It may have drastically improved after I did, but somehow I doubt it. For my money, the Paul Greengrass thriller UNITED 93 is everything that WORLD TRADE CENTER isn't: pacy, exciting, thrilling, urgent, and utterly, utterly heartbreaking and horrifying in equal measure.