mixed feelings

Rating: 5/10 (2 August 2006)

i was really looking forward to this movie.
the way i see it there are two main reasons to make this movie. first is to draw some grand conclusions about the experience. what did it all mean. the other is to show us what we couldn't see on TV. what cinema only can show. i wanted to see the planes crash in the buildings. what was it like to be on the floor where the plane pushed in. what did it look like close up. and more over ..one of the true dramas of the tragedy ....what happened up there. what did kind of hell and internal debate did the people up there go through: should i jump or would i burn alive if i didn't. this movie didn't do either. the big revelation was that one should try to stay alive and that people are capable of good deeds. but that's something i already knew after watching program after program on TV. as to what happened in those towers ... cnn showed more .... in this movie we only see a shadow of the plane. we never see them hit the buildings. i'm not sure if it was a budgetary issue
...but hey ...i saw the planes hit the towers on the today show. how come not in the movie ?
the movie did show me what it might have been like when that building came down on you. that 30 second sequence showed me something i hadn't seen a million times on the TV news. the movie did show what it would have been under that rubble. i had no idea there were those weird spacey sounds. like a sinking ship almost. thank you for that. i had no idea.
the biggest single problem i had with this film was that it was a too sentimental for my taste and it felt a little like a made for TV film. it would have played better without the violins underscoring every emotion. the subject is so powerful, the emotions so strong and raw, i don't need to be manipulated to feel them. less would have been more.
but the truth is i did get misty eyed a couple of times. i did want the couples to reunite. i did want the guys to live. i maybe would have rooted even more for them if they'd been less cartoony though. after two hours i have no idea what party any of the people would have voted for. i have no idea what would have made them laugh. i have no idea what they thought of any of the many issues that get the country riled up. i have no idea who these people were.
i'm one of those people who likes oliver stone. there are many places in this film where you know you're watching a great film maker ...but honestly this is not one of his best and maybe have waited a couple of more years before tackling this subject ....