World Trade Center- a Movie Not for the Faint at Heart but a Must See for All Other Movie Goers

With all the hoop-la surrounding the release of the movie from director Oliver Stone, I felt it only fair to check it out myself. I must say as a New Yorker myself who was home on 9/11/2001 I held a special interest in this film and wanted to see if it did the events of that faithful day justice. Now that I have seen it with my own eyes I can whole-heartedly say that it was an incredible movie and a definite must see in particular for New Yorkers. Nicolas Cage in the starring role of port authority police officer John McLoughlin gave an incredible performance that most definitely does the story of Officer McLoughlin and his crew which entered the towers justice.

This having been said, this movie is incredibly touching and its realism is boundless thus its not for the squeamish. It takes enormous will to sit through to the end. The suffering of the victims of 9/11 and the disturbing life and death decisions are incredibly gut wrenching and there was seldom a dry eye in the theater during my viewing. I recommend staying home for this one if you cant stomach people in pain or heart-wrenching scenes of desperate souls reviewing memories of loved ones.
All in all however, I must say that this is a must see and a definite four star docu-drama. The actors are spot on with their portrayals of everyone involved. The movie follows the accepted official account of what happened that day. It also adequately captures the ensuing confusion and the realization of the inherent good in people that we saw after 9/11. Along with a few surprise interludes to break the tension of the audience. This film carries with it a warm message of hope and endurance against all odds. As the end credits of the movie stated “2,749 people died in the terrorist attacks of 9/11.” and I feel that each of them would have wanted to see this movie and part of me believes they were with us viewing right along at our side in spirit.