World Trade Center

Rating: M – Contains Low Level Offensive Language.
Duration: 124 mins.
Genre: Drama.
Actors: Nicolas Cage, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Stephen Dorff, Frank Whaley, Michael Pena, Donna Murphy, Patti D'Arbanville, Jude Ciccolella.
Director: Oliver Stone.
Release Date: Available Now.

Oliver Stone wisely chose to tell a story that took place in the September Eleven attack on New York, rather than trying to tell the whole story.

He also used restraint when it came to showing the first strike, forcing the viewer to feel the impact rather than see it, which proves to have far more punch than had he tried to re-create an image that we all have seared into our brain through the media’s over exposure on the day.

As with the recent Maria Full Of Grace, World Trade Center starts off as a routine day, that can only be described as slow and boring. This slow methodical pace draws the viewer into the lives of the two Port Authority Police Officers that Stone uses to tell his take on the 9/11 stroy.

There is absolutely nothing special about these two guys; John McLoughlin (played by Nicolas Cage) is a seasoned cop who has given far too much time to the force and not enough time to his family, and Will Jimeno (played by Michael Pena) is a young rookie who still sees the wonder around him.

Both start their day in the same way they always start their day, the same way most of us start our days. This is just an ordinary day, and Stone does a great job of portraying this right from the start.

Then the unbelievable happens, a commuter plane flies into the World Trade Center.

Misinformation becomes king as the Port Authority police are called back in, and then sent out to help.

No one really knows what is going on, but there is work to be done amongst the confusion and debris.

McLoughlin is in charge, and knows what he has to do. He asks for a team of volunteers to go with him and help evacuate the tower.

It is a scene that shocks and awes both the veteran McLoughlin and the rookie Jimeno as they and a few others start to gather equipment and head into the lobby.

Then all hell breaks lose as the tower collapses. McLoughlin and his small team rush for cover, not knowing that the whole building is collapsing onto of them.

McLoughlin’s knowledge of the building helps save his life and that of Jimeno, but no one else makes it alive.

It’s here; trapped in the rubble that Stone makes this story into a masterpiece of cinema.

Unable to move, with the rubble slowly squeezing the life out of them, Jimeno and McLoughlin have to rely on each other’s strengths to stay alive.

Relatively unknown to each other they trade stories of their personal lives to not only pass the time, but to keep each other awake, and to make sure the flicker of hope doesn’t go out.

The cinematography in these cramped locations is amazing. The use of light combined with the makeup and short focal lengths on the closely cropped faces brings a reality to their claustrophobic situation, and a nauseating knowledge that their lives literally hang in the balance.

Of course a movie that passes the bulk of its time focused on two men trapped in rubble trading stories would not hold anyone’s interest for very long. Nor would it tell the whole story.

Stone manages this my interweaving the scenes with a few flashbacks, but more importantly he trades focus to the wives and families of the two men.

We get to witness the emotional toil that comes with the pain of not knowing where your loved one is, then the misinformation and confusion, and ultimately the uncertainty of the future.

Then Stone suddenly shifts focus to an almost empty church, where a young man struggles briefly with his calling, he talks to his pastor and explains that God has called him to go to the World Trade Center and help.

Though what neither of them knows is how this ex-marine can help.

But time, and this movie, ultimately show that if you listen to the voice of God, and follow his direction, amazing things can happen.

A story within a story, World Trade Center takes a part of what happened on September 11th, 2001. A day when many of us just stared at our TV screen in disbelief, and draws an story so full of the emotion of that day, but a story so personal that it is much easier to relate to.

It’s a story where death and destruction don’t take center stage, but rather life, and the struggle for it, gets placed in crisp sharp focus.

It’s a place where politics is absent, replaced with faith and humanity.

It’s a story that resonates inside each of us, as we go about our daily lives. And it’s through this story that Stone delivers and enthralling cinematic masterpiece.

Food for thought:
Whose voice do you follow?

Rent or buy?
Definitely buy, it's one you'll want to watch again.