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Tuesday, 22 August 2006 18:01 |
| | Meg Hale |
If youëre like me, youëve come to worry about Oliver Stoneës career as of late. We are talking about a man whoës writing and directorial works included artwork such as "Platoon" (1986) and "Natural Born Killers" (1994).
We are also speaking of a man whose most recent works include the sub-par heroës journey into annoying film "U Turn" (1997) and the travesty that was "Alexander" (2004). I canët be the only one asking "What happened?"
His
latest directorial piece is "World Trade Center," the true story of two
New York police officers, who find themselves pin beneath the rubble
after the collapse of the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11
terrorist attack. Knowing that Stone usually has a pretty hard-core
political agenda that shines through in his filmmaking, I was intrigued
at where he was going to take this story.
The film stars Nicolas Cage ("Raising Arizona") as a veteran cop, Sgt.
John McLoughlin. His only companion, while pinned under the wreckage,
is rookie Will Jimeno, played by Michael Pena ("Crash"). The majority
of the film involves the two of them, relying on one another to keep up
hope that they will be rescued, so their acting is key to the quality
of the movie.
Whatever portion of the movie is not looking in on the two officers is
focused in on their families and how they cope with the realization
that their loved ones are lost and potentially dead. Cageës characterës
wife Donna is played by Maria Bello ("Thank you for Smoking"), while
Penaës characterës wife Allison is portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal
("Secretary").
I found it interesting how contrasting the wivesë responses to the
situation are. Gyllenhaal plays the character as strong, almost
accepting of it all, while Belloës acting is more denying and detached
for most of the movie. I must say, though, that the choice to cover
Belloës brown eyes with blue-tinted contact lenses took me out of the
moment a little. I mean, with a film about 9/11, why were they thinking
about eye-color?
All of the actors gave decent performances, but none that seemed
particularly noteworthy to me. In the end, the story has to speak for
itself and it is an amazing and moving story. Everything is based on
real-life peopleës account of what happened. Other characters, such as
firemen and marines, are brought in to give the full 360 degree view of
what went on.
The special effects are good; Stone hasnët lost his eye for detail. The
shots of what McLoughlin and Jimeno could see from where they were
trapped impressed me a great deal. It did a tremendous job of making
the audience really feel that they were stuck down there with the men.
It also did a nice job of giving the audience an idea of how much
actually collapsed when the building went down and under how much
plaster, pipes and cement people were stuck. It made it all the more
amazing that anyone was found and saved in that mess. It also showed
the true heroism and enduring courage that all the rescue teams had in
risking their lives, searching out these people.
I came out of the film not knowing exactly what Stoneës agenda was in
making this movie. I had hoped that he was just wanting to tell the
story of these people, but there were certainly moments in which you
could smell the propaganda radiating off of the screen. In particular,
there was a line about how someone had to seek out vengeance for the
attack through military action. It wreaked of self-justification and
left a bad taste in my mouth.
While "World Trade Center" is more than two hours long, and most of
those hours are grueling and tense, it is a fascinating story and one
that is important to be told. I give it four of my six planets.
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