Everyone's a critic: 'World Trade Center'

Three stars (out of four)    

As the movie opens, you notice the serenity of the morning as the sun begins to rise and people start their daily routines. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, at 9:37 a.m. my wife was two blocks from the White House and I was seven miles outside of Washington, D.C., en route to the Pentagon City Mall when I saw the smoke rising from the Pentagon.

"World Trade Center" focuses on the personal experiences of Sgt. John McLoughlin and rookie officer Will J. Jimeno of the New York Port Authority Police who were sent to help evacuate the World Trade Center.

I strongly recommend this movie. It shows how the events of that day changed the lives of ordinary people on Sept. 11, 2001.  

-- Jerry Swan

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Three stars (out of four)

This was a decent enough movie about two members of the Port Authority Police who survived after being buried following the collapse of the World Trade Center and the trauma their families went through waiting for word on their fate.

I was impressed that Oliver Stone did such a good job with a true story. Stone never did show a plane hitting either building, just a shadow passing.

The acting was done well. It did drag at times and some of the emotional scenes seemed a little over the top.

One warning about this movie, though -- if you're claustrophobic, be careful. Some scenes in the rubble made me sweat a little.

-- Dan Zimmerman