World Trade Center

I just saw World Trade Center, Oliver Stone's new movie about 9/11. As regualr readers may have noticed, I don't write about a movie unless it make a big impact, good or bad. This one wasn't bad.

It's hard to put into words, much like the feeling you got when the attacks happened. It was just sort of a heaviness. This movie did a good job of returning the feelings of five years ago. Shoot, even in the beginning few shots, when you see the main characters heading to work, and see the twin towers on the skyline, you get a weird feeling. A lot of people don't want to remember those feelings, and those people shouldn't see this movie. I think it would be obscene to forget the impact of that day, but that's just me.

The plot is pretty simple: cops doing their job on 9/11, they go in, the building collapses, they try to keep each other alive while being trapped in rubble, their families try to find out if they're alive or dead, other people try to find and rescue those that they can. I think some of the best parts are when the twin towers are still standing, but after the attacks. Nobody knows what's going on, there's massive confusion, and there are regular sounds above the action, that sound like the place is about to come down. Then it does in a very short but very intense period of time.

The film really isn't all that plot-driven, although it is a high-concept film. It's not really a character-driven film, although we do focus on the reactions and motivations of the people involved. I actually think the film went a bit long (as the emotional impact began to flag a little toward the end), but it was a powerful film. The kind which you don't want to leave your seat afterward.

I measure the impact of a film by how it sticks with you. I have yet to actually determine what the impact will be, but I think this one is going to stay with me for quite a while.