[5]

Personally, I’m not sure when I’ll ever be “ready” to see any dramatizations of September 11th, 2001. I definitely don’t want to see those events sensationalized. Thankfully, Oliver Stone exercises restraint with the material, opting to show the film almost entirely from two characters’ points of view. World Trade Center is a claustrophobic survival story centered around real-life survivors John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena), who ended up buried under twenty feet of rubble when the first tower collapsed. The film also involves the plight of both men’s wives (Maggie Gyllenhaal and Maria Bello), both trying desperately to discern whether their husbands are even alive.

I’m glad that Stone focused on telling the story of these four characters, but where he avoided the political and visceral indulgences, he embraced the emotional ones. World Trade Center turns into a Lifetime movie full of schmaltzy flashbacks and cloyingly sentimental moments. It’s not a matter of whether the little girl is going to ask when her daddy’s coming home, or if the men have visions of Jesus — it’s a matter of when. And composer Craig Armstrong does the film no favors with his wretched, overly-precious score. Michael Shannon is also a weak link, playing an over-the-top patriotic Marine (primarily shot from low angles). It’s almost as the though the U.S. military itself directed his scenes.