World Trade Center (2006)

Director: Oliver Stone

Cast: Nicolas Cage as John McLoughlin, Maria Bello as Donna McLoughlin, Connor Paolo as Steven McLoughlin, Anthony Piccininni as JJ McLoughlin, Alexa Gerasimovich as Erin McLoughlin, Morgan Flynn as Caitlin McLoughlin, Michael Peña as Will Jimeno, Armando Riesco as Antonio Rodrigues, Jay Hernandez as Dominick Pezzulo, Joe Starr as Subway Rider, Jon Bernthal as Christopher Amoroso, William Jimeno as Port Authority Officer (as Will Jimeno), Nick Damici as Lieutenant Kassimatis, Jude Ciccolella as Inspector Fields, Martin Pfefferkorn as Homeless Addict #1

I went into this film without expectations. I saw Flight 93 and enjoyed
it and I am very interested in all events surrounding September 11th,
so this film appealed to me. Now, I must say that I am not an Oliver
Stone fan, however, upon hearing this movie was nothing like an Oliver
Stone film I decided to check it out.

The storyline for the film, as stated, was based on the stories of a
few Port Authority police who survived the collapse of the building
while being trapped for hours in the rubble. At the beginning we are
introduced to each of the characters and their families. It's enough to
get us involved with each of them but leaves enough room to elaborate
as the film unfolds. The film moves rather nicely without going too
fast or slow. The vast amount of the film takes place after the towers
collapse while the men are trapped in the rubble. The story is told
through the trapped police officers current situation as well as what
their families are going through at the same time.

I felt this story to be very natural and not Hollywood-ized, something
I had been worried would happen. All the events seemed plausible, they
didn't throw anything in for added drama. All of the characters were
completely believable and you ended up loving all of them by the end. I
will caution you though, there are some intense scenes in this movie so
if you are unable to deal with some of the events from that day you may
not want to see the film.

The cinematography and sound really aided this film. All of the filming
was crisp and clean, the special effects were great and you could
hardly tell this had been filmed after the towers were gone (the shots
containing the towers that is). There were some great scenes from life
in new york; shots of the skyline and the subway as well as some
breathtaking aerials. The sound was spot on, you could feel the
building collapse as the scenes unfolded on the screen. It was a great
job all around.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was, it lived up to
Flight 93, although it has an entirely different feel to it. This film
is not ground-breaking work, but it wasn't meant to be. It was meant to
tell the story of a few brave men and their families and their
experiences during September 11th, and it accomplished this very well.