"We Prepared For Everything. Not For This. Not Something This Size. There Is No Plan." --- John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage)

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2007)

"World Trade Center" (2006)
Directed By: Oliver Stone
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Michael Peña, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, & Jay Hernandez
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (for intense and emotional content, some disturbing images and language)
Oliver Stone is famous for his movies with intense political messages. From "Platoon" to "JFK", Stone almost always has an underlying (or, sometimes, a little less subtle) meaning. Many people suspected that this would be the case with "World Trade Center". Stone could have easily lambasted audiences with anti-war and anti-Bush messages, exploiting the tragedy to no end. And yet, he did not. "World Trade Center" does not seek to point fingers or to use a tragedy as a medium through which Stone expresses his views. It, in fact, is the complete opposite. It only exists to tell a storya true and deeply emotional story. Told through the eyes of two Port Authority Police Officers trapped beneath the rubble of the fallen Twin Towers and their families waiting helplessly to see the final outcome, "World Trade Center" puts its audience through a heartbreaking and exhausting tour de force. As the credits rolled, I felt drained and ready for a few moments of uninterrupted peace and rest. "World Trade Center" is one of the very few movies of 2006 that has made me express such vivid emotions. "World Trade Center" is a wonderful example of how movies should be made. It is highly effective and delivers a heart-wrenching story with realistic characters and wonderful direction. My goodness, I think Oliver Stone has finally made an amazing movie with no political message supporting it.
As everyone knows, on September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four commercial places. Passengers onboard one plane overtook the hijackers and crashed the plane into a field, killing everyone onboard, but saving only God knows how many people. The second crashed into the Pentagon. The third and the fourth are probably the most famous, as they are the planes that crashed into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center. The Twin Towers (as they were called) collapsed, killing thousands of people and injuring thousands more. Buried beneath rubble were two New York City Port Authority Police Officers: Will Jimeno (Peña) and John McLoughlin (Cage). Their wives, Donna McLoughlin (Bello) and Allison Jimeno (Gyllenhaal), could only wait helplessly at their homes with their children, hoping and praying for the safe return of their husbands. As Will and John lied their, pinned beneath the debris, they saw something that most others did not see that day. They saw the kindness and the true character presented by many people when faced with an extreme situation. As the tagline so profoundly states, "The world saw evil that day. Two men saw something else". Thank goodness "World Trade Center" stuck to this tag line.
The performances in "World Trade Center" are perfectly flawless, as is the casting. Nicholas Cage gives one of his best performances and hits all of the right notes. I found him to be extremely convincing. Michael Peña blew me away with his visceral performance in last year's "Crash". Peña knows how to carry himself in roles that require exhausting emotional peaks and, here, he continues to prove that. Peña is easily one of the best rising stars in Hollywood and I can only hope that we will be seeing much more of him. Maria Bello is on a roll and doing very well for herself, with roles in such films as "A History of Violence", "Thank You for Smoking", and "World Trade Center". After a relatively slow start, she is finally achieving the roles that she rightfully deserves. Bello is one of my favorite actresses and this is one of her best performances. Maggie Gyllenhaal's brother, Jake Gyllenhaal, starred in last year's phenomenon, "Brokeback Mountain". It was arguably the defining moment of his career. Maggie Gyllenhaal has that same success here. Her performance is raw, real, and beautiful. I love her and I respected her performance in "World Trade Center". Jay Hernandez has already had one massive success this year with the brutal and gruesome horror film, "Hostel". He did a great job there and I am glad to say that there is no deterioration in the quality of his performance here. He does a wonderful job.
In the beginning of "World Trade Center", New York City is portrayed in a series of brief, quiet scenes. The streets of the city are either empty or speckled with silent pedestrians. The entire city seems like a very pleasant place. This portrayal is not New York City. It is an idealized glance at New York pre-attack, made to emphasize the drastic change of the city after the attacks. This is a typical Hollywood clichémaking something seem far more pleasant than it truly is to make the negative side of it even worse. In the case of "World Trade Center", this was highly unnecessary. We all saw the news that day and we all know how truly horribly it was. We also know that New York City was not a perfect world prior to the attacks. There are two moments that attempt to throw off this cliché. They include one of the police officers spotting two possible crimes occurring, but this is hardly enough. Still, "World Trade Center" is a superb film and is easily one of Olive Stone's best films. Stone made this movie with no political agenda and no conspiracy theory as a propeller. Stone wanted to make a movie with a heart that tells a story of family, love, and the kindness we never knew people had. This is one of the year's very best films and a must for anyone who enjoys movies.
Final Thought: "World Trade Center" is an emotionally-powerful and highly-effective drama with a caring heart, not a political agenda, at its center.
Overall Rating: 9/10 (A)