World Bland Center

Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center was never going to be an easy sell, as much because of the name Oliver Stone as anything actually in the film. Stone is hoping that his take on 9/11 will help him rise up from a streak of dreck that culminated with Alexander, one of the most bloated, flamboyantly self-obsessed, obtuse and shoddy bits of filmmaking in the last ten years. We know, of course, that Stone has (or once had, anyway) the ability to tell complicated, politically motivated stories. Despite being steeped in Stone’s particular brand of leftist paranoia, Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street, and JFK are enthralling, compelling films from an expert cinematic craftsman. JFK, especially, may be the greatest example of recombining historical, recreated, and wholly fictional footage to recast history in an entirely different—and decidedly eccentric—light. Stone’s conclusions may be nutty, but his command of editing and narrative--especially historical--is difficult to dismiss.

But as of late, Stone’s ambitions have soared while his execution has sunk. U-Turn, Natural Born Killers and Alexander are virtually unwatchable, interesting only as exercises in hyperstylized lunacy. Where Stone’s early works actually benefited from his compellingly detailed conspiracy theories and the chilling presentation of his askew worldview, these later films suffer from an excess—and lack of control—of those same tendencies. Stone’s always packed an unsubtle wallop, and when it’s focused, as in his early works, it’s powerful stuff. Without precision control, though, it's ugly and messy.

Now, judging from the newly released trailer for World Trade Center, it looks like Stone is trying to get rid of those zany tendencies all together, and I can’t say it looks promising. Treacly, swelling orchestral mush, rehashed clichés galore, baldly manipulative sequences, regional and ethnic stereotypes, and Nic Cage looking dog-tired and droopy eyed while uttering grey-matter destroying lines like “We prepared for everything. But not this. There’s no plan.” How’s that for insight, folks? Next you’re going to be telling me that these fireman loved their wives. A lot. And that 9/11 was very, very sad too. Wait—I see the trailer’s already done that. How revelatory!

From the looks of this trailer, Oliver Stone has sidestepped making the feverish, paranoid 9/11 polemic that many (including me) worried he might make. But in doing so, it appears that he’s regressed into grade-D Spielbergian faux-sincerity, almost Spielberg parody—exactly the sort of thing many were so relieved to see Paul Greengrass avoid. I’m not at all sure that a JFK-style conspiracy tale is in any way needed or appropriate, but it at least would’ve proved more interesting. What’s the use of hiring a brilliantly entertaining madman if he’s forced to act like a somber, respectable gentleman?