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'World Trade Center': Hope among the ruins
by Eleanor Ringel Gillespie

On Sept. 11, 2001, when the twin towers in downtown Manhattan came tumbling down, 2,749 people died. There were only 20 survivors found in the rubble. Port Authority police Officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno were two of them. "World Trade Center" tells their story, along with those of a handful of others. It does so respectfully, apolitically, with restraint. The director is Oliver Stone, a filmmaker not generally associated with plain-spoken moviemaking. Yet Stone uses the extraordinary cinematic skills he's honed in fireball pictures such as "Platoon," "JFK," "Natural Born Killers" and "Born on the Fourth of July" to infuse an essentially static story with passion and intensity. Read the full review

TO SUM UP
True story of Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin, two Port Authority police officers who rushed into the burning World Trade Center on 9/11 to help rescue people, but became trapped themselves when the tower collapsed. A race against time ensued to free them before their air ran out.

FILM FACTS ...

Paramount Pictures

'World Trade Center'

Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Stephen Dorff
Run time: 125 minutes
Release date: August 9, 2006
Rating: PG-13 for intense and emotional content, some disturbing images and language.
See showtimes

Behind the scenes
• Will Jimeno had only one thought: Save the people.
• What? An Oliver Stone film with no conspiracy theories?
• Says the director: "The lie has been, Oliver Stone makes up history."

On the web
Official movie site
View the trailer
Trailers require Quicktime

READ THE REVIEW

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: B
"... selfless filmmaking at its best."

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Austin American-Statesman: 3 of 5 stars
"Even the usually suspicious Oliver Stone isn't immune to a case of uncomplicated patriotism."

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The Palm Beach Post: B-
"... you would not need to know his résumé to sense the director holding back, confusing being careful with being cautious."