Decision ‘08

World Trade Center - The Decision ‘08 Review

Alas, this review is up late and not as good as it could probably be, as I just was involved in an ugly incident that involved law enforcement (I was a witness, not an instigator!), and now I have a tremendous headache. And God bless our cops and public safety officials, by the way, they have to deal with a tremendous amount of nonsense like I witnessed tonight - and occasionally, a heckuva lot more - which, come to think of it, brings me to the subject at hand.

World Trade Center has been criticized in some corners (both left and right) as not having a broad enough ‘perspective’ on 9/11, and in others for being mundane or even boring. Neither criticism is fair. The mundane charge comes from those who are disappointed that this is a domestic drama against a backdrop of our national tragedy - and the ‘perspective’ charge comes from people who don’t understand that this is a domestic drama against the backdrop of 9/11.

Filmmakers are not, after all, obligated to tell the story we want them to tell. They tell the story they want to tell, and we either like it, or we don’t. I like it, this story, and I like the fact that it’s a small story wrapped in a big picture. There are literally hundreds of good movies that could come out of 9/11, and we have to face the fact that, sacred day of mourning that it may be, it will increasingly be the subject of motion pictures both big and small.

And this is a surprisingly small picture - it’s a love story, really, about two couples. Both husbands are Port Authority Cops, yes, who just so happen to get stuck in the rubble of the World Trade Center - but the story is mainly a variation on one of the oldest of themes - love conquers all.

The collapse of the towers is handled quite tastefully - it is not shied away from, but neither is it brought in for shock value (as an example, we do see one of the tragic souls who jumped - but only one. The point is made, and we move on). And we spend a surprising amount of time in near total darkness with two men who can barely move and can only speak with difficulty, who are trapped under rubble. And though the attention may flag a bit (very few recent movies could not stand a little quicker draw from the editor) at times, the fact is that we begin to appreciate the movie on its own terms (or it least I did) after a half-hour or so and just drop the baggage of expectations.

This is an Oliver Stone film in name only - there are no distinctive directorial tip-offs. Indeed, on a technical level the film is quite straightforward. The only time the art comes to mind is when you find yourself wondering how they ever managed to recreate a part of Ground Zero on a set. Must have been quite a feat. I look forward to the details on the DVD.

This is not a great 9/11 movie - that would have been United 93. It is a better than average love story, given an extra dose of poignancy by the earth-shattering events that prompted its telling.

One Response to “World Trade Center - The Decision ‘08 Review”

1 Dmac Says:
August 10th, 2006 at 11:36 am
Thanks for the review, Mark - but after seeing clips like this one sent to me recently, I don’t think I’m ready (or will ever be) to see a Hollywood film based on this date:

http://hotair.com/archives/2006/07/27/video-kevin-cosgroves-911-call-from-the-world-trade-center/

I thought I had heard and seen everything at this point, but apparently stuff keeps trickling out. It’s too painful to watch, really - but it makes the point far better than any film could.