Not What It Could've Been

Rating: 5/10 (17 October 2006)

In my mind, World Trade Center needed to be good. It was coming out only a few months after United 93 came out and there was no way not to compare the two films. Though World Trade Center was a big hit overseas, you can't say the same for it's success in the US. Nicholas Cage plays John McLoughlin who was one of the police officers who went into one of the towers and tried to help to evacuate the building. As the towers fall, McLoughlin, Will Jimeno (played by Micheal Pena)and Dominick Pezzulo (Jay Hernandez)are trapped a good 20 feet under the fallen rubble. Unable to move, they must come together and help each other stay alive. The story also focuses on the families of the men. Mario Bello (Donna McLoughlin) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Allison Jimeno) play the men wives. Both women do an outstanding job in their part, especially Bello.
I was disappointed by the film. It was, at times, moving but it really slowed down in some parts. Cage and Pena do all they can with the writing while Bello and Gyllenhaal created their own element. I think the big thing that will ruin this film for people is that you know the outcome of the story. Instead of being on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen to the families, you find yourself casually slumped in your chair, already knowing the outcome. Overall, I didn't find the film as inspiring as it could have been and wished I had waited for the DVD release.