Who is this movie meant for? The question arose repeatedly when United 93 premiered this past spring, and with fair cause: even if Paul Greengrass' snuff-verité procedural was devastating in its authenticity (forgiving its speculative elements for now), what kind of wide-reaching catharsis could straight reverence offer? Sensitive souls decry that these big-screen 9/11 reenactments are "too soon," a timeframe which best explains what's kneecapping their potential for artistic greatness. It hasn't been half a decade since that epochal tragedy and we're still without much closure, so how could anyone (specifically, any screenwriter or filmmaker) have already processed this mess and found enough revelatory hindsight to make a useful, thought-provoking work for the masses?
To their credit, World Trade Center helmer-for-hire Oliver Stone and scripter Andrea Berloff didn't attempt anything so bold, regardless of how definitive-sounding their title rings. No, this is a relatively tiny, real-life triumph that was eclipsed by the Twin Towers' collapse, concerning a pair of Port Authority police officers (played with literally restrained gusto by Nicolas Cage and Michael Peña) who were two of the last to be rescued from the debris.
From its somewhat predictable setup of New Yorkers and bridge-and-tunnellers serenely starting their workday, the film utilizes the audience's knowing suspense to punctiliously recreate our collective emotions on a smaller scale, musically cutting between soon-to-be-pinned officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno and their soon-to-be-grieving families (including an excellent stand-out performance by Maria Bello as McLoughlin's wife). Unlike United 93, which ripped off the bandages and exposed only our confusion, sadness, and anger all over again, WTC focuses on the bonding positivity that came from this ugly situation; at times, its sincere message of hope, support and human kindness is oversentimentalized to a fault. (Full disclosure: this critic got choked up at moments that have induced eye-rolling in the context of other movies.) Underscored by the fragility of a plinking piano and well-timed flourishes to uplift, this heroic heartstring-tugger is still frequently and unexpectedly affecting, so much that it's able to hide its true face as a glorified movie-of-the-week.
Much ado has been made of Stone's outspoken claims of de-politicizing this tale, considering his past provocations as the ex-leader of a liberal conspiracy platoon. Some critics scream that it panders to the religious right because of its use of holy visions (based on firsthand recollections), the crazy-eyed Marine on a mission from God (ditto), and a flag-waving Brooks & Dunn song (which reads more like a detail of the working-class). Still others think Stone has been neutered by the studio after the Alexander fiasco, as if he were simply playing a controversial subject as safely as his financiers demanded. There's a valid argument in saying the film is too innocuous to even editorialize its imagery, but the wildest of opinions are bound to come up as every American has their own personal 9/11 experience, inseparable from what's onscreen. Asking again, who is this movie for? I suppose it's for those who want to try to experience (or re-capture) the neighborly love that enveloped New York in the wake of disaster.
Copyright © 2008 Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Inc.