Movie Review-World Trade Center

Only history will tell if Hollywood accurately recounted the harrowing events of September 11, 2001. Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center,” coupled with the recent “United 93,” are the first two major studio forays into the subject. Despite differing opinions on whether such films are necessary yet, each film has given us an important snapshot of that fateful day. In “World Trade Center,” Screenwriter Andrea Berloff and Stone take the high road by refusing to politically grandstand or resort to cliched flag-waving. Instead they weave a powerful tale of courage and redemption in the face of evil.

“World Trade Center” focuses on the story of two New York City Port Authority police officers, Will Jimeno (Michael Pena) and John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage), who were the 18th and 19th persons rescued alive (there were only 21 in all) from the collapsed towers. Told mostly from deep within the rubble, the story moves briskly from the vantage point of the two survivors clinging to life, their families coping with the uncertainty of their loved ones’ fate, and the God-inspired calling of the man who ultimately is the one who discovers them.

There is an eerie sense of layered normalcy in the opening sequence of the film. On one end of the spectrum is McLoughlin, a 21-year veteran of the department. In the pre-dawn hours of what is seemingly just another day he rises from bed. McLoughlins’ tired, sunken eyes and weary movements demonstrate a man who has done this thousands of times before and will do countless times in the future. He dutifully peers into the bedrooms of each of his children before heading out the door for his trek into the city. In contrast, Jimeno has been on the force all of thirteen months. With a young, pregnant wife and four-year old daughter, he is the epitome of the nervous, optimistic rookie. Seemingly savoring every moment, he emerges from his small suburban home with a spring in his step eager to take on whatever comes his way. He excitedly drums his steering wheel and sings along to the tune of Brooks and Dunns’ “Only in America” blasting from his car stereo. Meanwhile, McLoughlin stares blankly ahead to the drone of a monotone radio news commentator. The clear city skyline and the Twin Towers gleam brightly in the sunrise of a day that would providentially define the course of history.

Stone, who in past films has had all the subtelty of a sledgehammer, uses unusual restraint in his recreation of the hijacked planes flying into the towers. We never see the planes or the explosions of impact; instead we “feel” them through the sickening sound. (This is a powerful and effecitve method because every viewer has their own “story” behind the events of that day–where they were, what they were doing, who they were with. I found myself struggling with the same emotions watching the film as I did that day.) When McLoughlin rallies a small group of officers to enter the burning towers, Jimeno is the first to step up. An unspoken bond is immediately formed as the brave men embark on their mission–the young cops filled with fear and uncertainty; the vet McLoughlin, with years of experience and knowledge, leading them despite the impossibility of the task. As chaos ensues around them, the team begins their ascent into the tower. The tension increases as scores of desperate occupants file by them, many of them burned, bleeding and covered in soot. When the first tower begins to collapse, Stone unfortunately resorts to the hackneyed technique of slow-mo as if the moment needed more dramatic effect.

The film is at its best when it settles into the dark and quiet claustrophia within the ruins as McLoughlin and Jimeno bond in their determination to survive. Out of sight from one another and severely wounded, the pinned men communicate and keep each other going despite the gravity of their situation. Heavenly beacons of light shine through the cracks and a small drip of water from a pipe just out of reach are the only glimmers of hope for the two. “Can you still see the light?,” McLaughlin asks his partner. Dramatically the camera pulls out of the ruins, up above what will come to be known as Ground Zero and into the city skyline revealing only a solitary plume of smoke reminiscent of the presence of God in the Old Testament described as a pillar of smoke. It is here within the depths of destruction that these two men are brought to the end of themselves, left to seek comfort in the transcendent–screaming the Lord’s Prayer as the second tower crumbles or Jimeno’s visions of Jesus offering him water.

Meanwhile, the families of McLoughlin and Jimeno are left in aching uncertainty on the fate of their loved ones. The tension is excruciating as they find various ways to cope–the wives manically searching for answers, Jimeno’s mother dropping to her knees to silently pray, McLoughlins’ brave son wanting to “just go down there and get him.”

In the turning point of the film, a savior emerges in a scene rich with spiritual overtones: a Bible opened to the first chapter of Revelation. A cross. People filling a church to pray. It is within the walls of this church we are introduced to ex-Marine David Karnes. Sensing a divine calling, he leaves his job in Connecticut to become part of the rescue efforts. Upon his arrival and surveying the destruction at Ground Zero, Karnes tells another rescue worker, “It’s as if God made a curtain with the smoke to shield us from what we’re not ready to see.”

In the end, Karnes calling was sure as he discovers and orchestrates the rescue of the two heroes. As McLoughlin ascends toward the light and out of his grave of twisted steel, we see hundreds of hands carrying his broken and wounded body to safety and restoration–a beautiful picture of self-sacrifice, community and brotherhood. Scripture says in Genesis 1:27 “God created man in his own image.” It is this truth written on the hearts of men that causes us to rage against the injustice and violence commited on 9/11. This is also the truth that motivates men to great acts of selflessness, bravery and courage as demonstrated by countless thousands on that day and the days that followed. Some, like Jimeno and McLoughlin, made it out alive–thousands did not and that alone makes this a story worth telling–despite the flaws of Stone’s film.