WORLD TRADE CENTER MOVIE REVIEW
If nothing else, Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center should spark a firestorm of debate. Of course, that debate will be “How do you give a bad review to a movie based one of the worst tragedies in American History?” Well, you’re about to find out.
Let’s start with the plot. This is the story of the rescue of John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena), two Port Authority police officers who are trapped after the collapse World Trade Center. We watch their agonizing struggle to survive, trapped motionless under twenty feet of twisted steel and broken concrete, while their families suffer the emotional torment of not knowing whether their loved ones are dead, alive or whether they were even in the buildings at all.
This is a great story. It’s inherently emotionally gut wrenching just by its very nature. Just leave it alone. What kills it, is all the trappings that are added on to it and the fact that we see so little of these families actually interacting with each other. All we know of the McLoughlins and Jimenos is what we see in overly sentimental flashbacks that might as well be shot through a Vaseline covered lens. Scenes such as John Mcloughlin teaching his son how to saw a board, while the Jimenos discuss baby names, play out to be just silly. They also, of course, set you up for predictable plot points that emotionally manipulate the audience later on.
Now I like Nicolas Cage, but he was entirely miscast here. He ranges from walking into the World Trade Center sideways like John Wayne to sounding like he has a mouth full of Novocain. Maria Bello on the other hand wasn’t miscast as Donna McLoughlin, just wasted. She does a great job with what she’s given to work with, as does Maggie Gyllenhaal. When Oscar noms come out I guarantee that if these two women aren’t nominated, there will be at least one nominee they could have been nominated over.
There are two things that really lose me completely. The first is that at one point Jimeno passes out, and while out he has a vision of Jesus holding a bottled water. Yes, you read that correctly and, yes, it’s as funny as it sounds. Now, I know this actually occurred, but Stone had to realize this wouldn’t play out properly on screen, especially when it looks like left over Natural Born Killer footage. It’s totally out of place.
The second huge misstep is Michael Shannon as Dave Karnes. Karnes is an accountant from Connecticut, who after seeing the attacks leaves work, puts on his old Marine uniform, get a buzz cut, and wanders into ground zero. Oh yeah, he does all this because he believes he’s on a mission from God. He comes off as a complete sociopath and is called as much by another rescuer, especially when he stares of into the distance and says “They're going to need some good men to avenge this.” He then, of course, reenlists and is sent to Iraq.
The reason I’m so down on this movie is that John McLoughlin, Will Jimeno and all the people who risked their lives saving them deserve better than this. These people are heroes and it is just shameful if the best we can do for them is an overblown Lifetime original movie. The only thing missing is Meredith Baxter-Birney. It doesn’t feel as though tribute has been paid to these people, it feels more like WTC has just paid lip service to them.
The Grade
- Story: D
- Acting: B
- Visuals: B
- Originality: C
- Enjoyability: D
- Overall: C-
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