'World Trade Center' Review

Rarely will I pay $8 or more to see a movie in the theaters instead of waiting for it to be on DVD. However, now is not one of those times.

World Trade Center is worth the money and time. It's not escapist crap or touchy feely stuff, it's serious with its moments of humanity.

We know what happens, 9/11 thousands work at or near the World Trade Center, and this story is about a few of them.....

We meet New York Port Authority Sergeant John McLaughlin, a 20 year vet of the department. McLoughlin goes to work at his HQ on Manhattan after glancing at his wife and 4 children. He leaves home before 4 am to get into the city.

McLoughlin is played well by Nicolas Cage, whom some wrote off for his 4 or 5 Jerry Bruckheimer films, and yes even The Lord of War. Cage gives a good performance as a hardened cop.

However, this cop and Officer Will Jimeno, played by The Shield's Michael Pena, are among those sent into hellstorm, that day. Jimeno regularly guarded the NYC PA Bus Terminal, and when not there is with his wife Allison, 5-months pregnant. All begins like a normal day.

Then the shadows of Flight 11, the first airliner fly over NYC. We never see the planes grotesque kamikaze dives into the Towers, but see it on footage from that day. The rest of the Towers shots are CGI. We see office workers for the PA, in the Towers shaken by a boom and rattling. They think it's an accident. We never see Plane 2, which is dismissed by the cops as rumors, but then we see the results.....

The cops commandeer a bus, with dozens of others and head to the World Trade Center. Racing alongside fire trucks, police cars, and other emergency vehicles, the rescuers head to what is supposed to be a hypothetical scenario. The Towers are now ablaze, after the attacks. Now the film enters into all too real events.....

They see people jumping to their deaths, they are inside and see the burst water mains, shattered windows inside the underground mall between the towers, and the wounded inside the lobbies. These cops went from regular hardened officers into jarred and very very alert humans.

Then at 9:59 am, The South Tower comes down ontop of them and hundreds of others....... We see them die, right? No. McLoughlin and Jimeno live through the 1st and 2nd collapses, trapped under rubble, with internal bleeding. A rookie, Dominick Pezzulo (forgive me for spelling) is trapped, but he is crushed after the North Tower collapses shifting rubble onto him and his 2 living partners. Pezzulo, played too briefly by Jay Hernandez, is killed. Now, Jimeno and McLoughlin are not just fighting off pain and discomfort, but also trying to muster the will to live.

Back at home, in Goshen, NY and in New Jersey, we focus on the McLoughlin and Jimeno families. We see one wife, trying to be a rock, but cracking under the strain. Maria Bello does a great job as Donna McLoughlin. She is trying to calm other EMS and Cops wives, but herself is privately fearful for John's life. Then we see Allison Jimeno, very well portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. The same Maggie who made statements on 9/11 that were taken many ways, but is nonetheless a good actress. We see a pregnant Mrs. Jimeno starting to panic and then accept the fact that her husband is gone....... Both actresses portrayed a microcosm of the lives permanently altered that day.....

Bravo, ladies. Very well done.

Meanwhile, John and Will keep talking and keep recollecting on their families and their jobs. Both struggle to live. They were both trapped inside the rubble of Ground Zero for well over 12 hours. However, the NYPD and FDNY try and get them out. They are helped by civilians and free-lancers who offer to help. One free-lancer is a financial worker, Phil Karnes, who is also an ex US Marine. Karnes, maybe a real character or a compilation of other real life and rumored rescuers and saints on that day. However, Karnes is portrayed by Michael Shannon, usually in lighter roles or supporting roles as a goof or oddball. Here, Shannon is all business as the divinely led Marine, that's right, he's a Christian who prays before heading from Connecticut to NYC, in full uniform......

McLoughlin and Jimeno are rescued, they were the 18th and 19th persons out of 20 total that lived through both Tower Collapses and the other buildings. Close to 2700 were not so lucky.

World Trade Center was directed by Oliver Stone, who omits sketchy black and white documentary style shots, political overtones, and outright conspiracy theories. There are plenty of those on 9/11, but Mr. Stone does a good job of leaving those out. Stone did a good job in changing gears from serious and sometimes overdramatized speculations into pure filmmaking, like he did with Wall Street and Platoon.

In WTC are also good performances by Ned Eisenberg, Stephen Dorff, and Jude Ciccollela (Mike Novick on 24) as PAPD and NYPD Officers. Jude is shown as entering the WTC melee in a nice blue cap and white shirt, then he's seen later covered in the blood of others and in dust. The head cop is shaken. Stephen Dorff does a good job as a tired yet vigilant NYPD ESU Officer Strauss. And yes, Stone favorite Frank Whaley appears as a former paramedic (his license lapsed, no malpractice) who helps Jimeno and McLoughlin. And since we're on 24 actors, Roger Cross, aka Curtis has a minute as Jimeno's doctor after the 2 cops are pulled alive.

WTC is a good way to spend your time. By no means does it get too cheesy or too convoluted, but it does show just a small part of the lives affected by America's deadliest terrorist act, ever. It will stir up emotions you thought dormant since 5 years ago and takes you back to that day. This is a 'Never Forget' type picture, minus any stereotypes or overt flag waving (minus Marine Karnes).

I dunno if this will get Oscars, but it's worth a watch. Not bad for Oliver Stone's first ever non R-rated theatrical release.

World Trade Center is not a film to forget.