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Directed By
Oliver Stone
Written By:
Andrea Berloff
Cast:
Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jay Hernandez, Stephen Dorff, Nick Damici, Jude Ciccolella, Martin Pfefferkorn, Alexa Gerasimovich, Armando Riesco, Jon Bernthal, Connor Paolo, Connor Paolo, Anthony Piccininni, Morgan Flynn, William Jimeno, Nelson Peña
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World Trade Center (2006)
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Movie Review by AJ 
August 11th, 2006
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Everyone knows by now that director Oliver Stone has done something very unusual in World Trade Center (the second film this year about the tragic events of September 11, 2001, in less than four months, after April's United 93): He's kept things apolitical. But the real question is, does it work? The answer is that, yes, to some degree it works, and to a higher degree than I was expecting. Yes, this movie is Hollywood sentimentality through-and-through and goes for the corn more often than it should. Yes, I could predict every storytelling rhythm, every musical cue. But one would be hard-pressed to deny that there is a certain emotional strength and passion behind World Trade Center that sets it apart from the normal Hollywood tragedy blockbuster like, say, Titanic. And it's this passionate emotional core, as well as Stone's keen cinematic eye, that makes the film far better than its screenplay would suggest. Of course, coming this soon after the aforementioned United 93, comparisons are inevitable. And the simple fact of the matter is, World Trade Center doesn't even come remotely close to touching anything near the vicinity of United 93. That harrowing film had a dangerous, queasy sense of immediacy and a truly intimate atmosphere. There always seems to be a sheen of polished Hollywood glass in World Trade Center distancing the audience from the events in the film, regardless of the emotional stake every American holds in regards to 9/11. A lot of it seems to be the fact that Stone has gone soft; I don't necessarily require a government conspiracy of some sort, but there's not a whole heck of a lot underneath the surface of World Trade Center. I'm sure it sounds like I'm really railing on the film, but it's a very good one, actually, though not a masterful achievement (though the destruction sequences are painful and terrifying to sit through). Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, and Maggie Gyllenhaal all turn in fine, well-tuned performances, and I might even say that Cage would be on my short list of Best Actor nominees by time next year's Oscars roll around. Twenty years from now, United 93 will be the film remembered, while World Trade Center will be considered the worthy yet lesser achievement that it is. Still, for right here and right now, this is a very good movie deserving of recommendation.
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 | Chris
Mar 2, 2008 7:40 PM
also wrote a review of World Trade Center 
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| This movie was really hard to watch, I had seen it in theatre and couldnt help but feel like just breaking down. The acting was simply amazing and the script was great. Emotional and real to. Another great film is United 93. |
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