Laramie Movie Scope:
World Trade Center

July 10, 2006 -- “World Trade Center” is a gritty tale of hope and survival amid the ruins of the most devastating terrorist attack in the history of the world. The film is unusual for an Oliver Stone-directed film in that it is politically right-of-center and it contains no strange conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories have become almost synonymous with Stone's films over the years. He not only avoids conspiracy theories, he even sinks a dagger into one famous conspiracy theory. This film is a deeply personal, and even spiritual, film. Instead of concentrating on the political aspects of the 9/11 attacks, this one tells how Americans pulled together to help each other in the nation's greatest hour of need. It is a tale of survival and how family and friends give two men the will to survive a terrible trap.

The film centers on two New York Port Authority policemen trapped in the rubble of the collapsed World Trade Center. The two, John McLoughlin (played by Nicolas Cage of “The Weatherman”) and Will Jimeno (Michael Peña of “Million Dollar Baby”) endure agonizing hours trapped in wreckage before being miraculously rescued. The two and several other volunteers are preparing to enter the World Trade Center to evacuate one of the buildings when the first building collapses. All but three of the policemen are killed in the first collapse. One of the survivors dies while trying to free Will Jimeno from the debris. That leaves the two men alone, trapped in an elevator shaft and suffering from broken bones and internal bleeding. They don't know what has happened, but they hope someone will come rescue them. As the hours pass by, they begin to lose hope. The only thing keeping them alive is the sound of their own voices and thoughts of their families. John tells Will that he can't die because he promised his wife new kitchen cabinets. He had been building them in the garage. John tells Will that he will surely die if Will dies. Will replies “Well, then you can't die either.” Neither one of them feels he can survive alone.

Meanwhile, their families are frantic for any news of the two men. Like thousands of other families on that fateful day, word of their loved ones is slow in coming. John's wife, Donna (Maria Bello of “A History of Violence”) tries to keep calm for the sake of her children, but everyone is barely holding on, waiting for some sign. Will's wife, Allison (Maggie Gyllenhaal of “The Secretary”), who is five months pregnant, is a basket case. Her family considers sedating her, but she just has to work out her feelings in her own way. She finally calms herself enough to comfort her daughter. Another key character is Dave Karnes (Michael Shannon) an accountant who feels that God is telling him to go to ground zero. He gets a buzz cut and dons his old U.S. Marines uniform and goes to the World Trade Center site. He and another Marine, Dave Thomas (William Mapother of “In the Bedroom”) comb through the wreckage on their own, and miraculously manage to find the two trapped men. Another man emerges as a hero, a former paramedic who has overcome chemical dependency, Scott Strauss (Stephen Dorff of “Shadowboxer”). Strauss helps with the dangerous rescue under the unstable, burning rubble.

While Stone is famous for his conspiracy theories in “JFK” and other films, he actually doesn't advance any in this film. In fact, he attacks the conspiracy theory that no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11. The film mentions that an eyewitness saw the plane hit the Pentagon. Most of Stone's films are politically charged. This one isn't. What little politics are in the film lean to the right, the opposite of most Hollywood films. The film avoids politics for the most part by limiting the scope of the film to what the characters knew at the time, which was very little. There is very little talk about “those bastards” who planned and carried out the attack. The film does offer a note at the end about how Dave Karnes re-enlisted in the Marines and served two combat tours in Iraq. This could be interpreted to mean that it was God's will that Karnes fought in Iraq. Karnes claimed to be on a mission from God and he also said that he wanted revenge for what happened on 9/11. This is a pretty generous gift to the Bush Administration, which has claimed a connection between Al-Qaeda and Iraq, but has never been able to prove any substantial connection between Al-Qaeda and the former government of Saddam Hussein. It had the same problem finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

This film also doesn't take any shots at President Bush, unlike some previous 9/11 films like “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “United 93.” There is brief TV footage of Bush giving a speech about how America would rebound from the 9/11 attacks. Stone gives President Bush a free pass in this film and even makes him look presidential. This will no doubt anger many who oppose Bush, including some critics. Maybe this is the reason this film hasn't gotten better reviews. While I think Bush is one of America's worst presidents, that is no reason to pan this film. It is a well-constructed movie with a solid emotional impact. Politics plays such a small role in this movie, it should not play a determining role in an artistic evaluation of the film's merits. The politics that are left in the movie may be conciliatory on purpose. No doubt this movie will be better received in red states than in blue states, but it should have universal appeal because of its powerful emotional, humanistic, spiritual message. This is a remarkably positive film about a terrible disaster. It manages to find the best in people in the worst of times. You gotta love that.

Stone gets great performances out of his actors, particularly Cage, Peña, Bello and Gyllenhaal. He emphasizes the personal nature of this story by using a lot of extreme closeup shots on the actor's faces. Stone also makes the story personal by avoiding spectacle. There are few shots of the collapse of the buildings and no shots of the planes hitting the buildings. Most of the awful destruction is seen through the reactions of the characters. The action centers around what the two trapped men can see and feel, and what the other characters find out from TV and other sources. By doing this, Stone reinforces what many of us felt when we watched those towers fall on 9/11, helpless. By concentrating on two of only 20 policemen or firemen rescued at ground zero, Stone also emphasizes the positive over the negative. This is a film that reminds us how great we can be when we work together to help people in need. That is something worth remembering. This film rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2006 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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