Shards of hope amidst the bleakness

Rating: 7/10 (18 October 2006)

"World Trade Center" is different from the usual Oliver Stone film in that it's an article with a hushed apolitical tone. Here, Stone removes the usual sappiness of movies depicting heroism, pushes mawkishness to the sides, and tells a definitive story of two individuals who were among the victims of that fateful day.
Whereas "United 93" (the other 9/11 film released this year) featured mostly unknown actors, "World Trade Center" stars Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena as Port Authority cops John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, respectively. Called in to the World Trade Center without knowing what the emergency was, McLoghlin and Jimeno soon find themselves trapped when the Twin Towers eventually collapses. Both actors, coupled by the script by Andrea Berloff, successfully underplay the sensationalism while still maintaining the realistic urgency and heroism of the big picture.
Stone is so determined to show the humanity of McLoughlin and Jimeno that his trademark themes take a backseat to the unfolding drama on the screen. Still it isn't without a few minor problems. Firstly, some parts slow down with a little too many narrative flashbacks. I'm not familiar with how much of these were real and how much were part of cinematic liberties, and indeed some of them are necessary for the characterizations of the leads but not all of it. But that's about it as far as quibbles are concerned.
This is simply an intelligent solid film, a little loose with the details of the actual events but overall true to what its subject is all about.