NoFace for Film

Title: World Trade Center
Year: 2006
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring Cast: Nicholas Cage, Michael Pena, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello

NoFace for Film rating: 4.5 out of 7

Since today is September 11th, I thought it was appropriate to wait until today to publish my review of World Trade Center.

Before I go into the review itself, I know that there’s a lot of controversy regarding this film (or any film related to this event) in the first place. Some people have refused to see it on principle; some have criticized the inaccuracies in the film, and others consider United 93 to be superior to World Trade Center because it didn’t have big name actors and seemed more like a documentary than a typical, flashy Hollywood movie. All of these opinions are perfectly reasonable and acceptable; if that’s how people feel, then so be it. I personally choose to watch World Trade Center over United 93 simply because I don’t like watching any film or TV show that features a hostage situation. Furthermore, while I know what eventually happened to the unfortunate passengers on the plane, I didn’t know the story of John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, the two men featured in World Trade Center.

As I mentioned, World Trade Center focuses specifically on events surrounding McLoughlin and Jimeno, two Port Authority police officers who were among the first on the scene when the Twin Towers were attacked. The men become trapped under the rubble when the towers collapse, and the rest of the film mainly splits its time between focusing on McLouglin and Jimeno’s struggle to survive and keep their hopes up for being resuced, to their families who are worried to death about them.

I thought that Cage and Pena did a pretty good job in depicting the two trapped officers. It’s interesting to watch their scenes since for most of the movie, they’re pinned under rubble, and you can only see their faces. I’m used to watching movies in which the main characters are active and mobile, so to see just their faces in a dark room for most of the movie was a little strange for me as a viewer. Bello and Gyllenhaal are also ok in their portrayals of McLoughlin and Jimeno’s wives, respectively. I liked the contrast between the scenes with the older woman with many children (Mrs. McLoughlin) versus the younger, pregnant woman with only one young child (Mrs. Jimeno). The actresses illustrated the courage and strength that their real-life counterparts must have shown when they found out what happened to their husbands.

That being said, I thought some parts of the film were a little too sappy. While it was necessary to have a few flashback scenes featuring the men with their families, at times it was a little too melodramatic, and it felt like the audience’s hearts were being manipulated. There was little need for that, since the scenes of the survivors evacuating the towers before they collapsed was already sad enough. Even my boyfriend, who never cries at movies, teared up a bit during the early scenes of the damaged buildings.

Overall, if you don’t have any qualms in watching a 9/11-related film, World Trade Center is a good film to watch. I do warn that you may have tears of sadness and joy over the course of the film.