11 septembre

I saw this movie on 9/11 and there was no one else in the theater besides me. The movie felt very cheaply made and Charlie Sheen's performance was pretty laughable. Lots of monologues in this film that dragged on and characters I cared very little about, even if they were supposed to be victims of a real event. The whole concept of a movie about being trapped in an elevator is a bad idea for a movie, adding on top a real tragedy just makes it even more tasteless. Fictional characters don't belong in a movie about a tragedy so recent.

There have been over 50 feature films made about the September 11th terrorist attacks on the U.S. – dramas and documentaries – about the attacks themselves and about their effects on the U.S. and on individuals. 2017 brings us the action drama "9/11" (R, 1:30), but that's not the first film to use that title. 2002's "9/11" is a television documentary from Bronx-born filmmaker James Hanlon and French documentarians Gédéon and Jules Naudet who were in New York filming a documentary about a rookie firefighter, but whose planned film was hijacked by real-life events, giving us rare footage from the epicenter of the attacks. In 2006, "World Trade Center" put Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena in that same spot, portraying real-life NYC Port Authority police officers trapped in the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Movies telling fictional stories of how the tragedy of September 11, 2001 affected ordinary people include "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" (a 2011 Best Picture Oscar nominee starring Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, Max von Sydow and featuring child actor Thomas Horn) and "Reign Over Me" (a 2007 drama starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle). Then there are movies like "Zero Dark Thirty" (a 2012 Best Picture nominee with an all-star cast led by Oscar-nominated Jessica Chastain and directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow) which represent the wider effects of the attacks. For my money, the best 9/11 film to date is 2006's "United 93" (as opposed to the TV movie "Flight 93" – same subject, same year), which earned Oscar nominations for its editing and for the directing of "Bourne" series helmer Paul Greengrass. All of these films are good and some are great. So, how does this "9/11" stack up?

2017's "9/11", based on the award-winning play "Elevator" by Patrick James Carson, tells the fictional story of five strangers stuck between floors in the North Tower of the World Trade Center after American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into it. Jeffrey Cage (Charlie Sheen) is a billionaire businessman who is being divorced by his wife, Eve (Gina Gershon). Jeffrey and Eve have a young son together, but Eve's one big complaint against Jeffrey is that he doesn't pay enough attention to her or their son and she's had enough. Tina (Olga Fonda) has also had enough of her guy. She's dating a rich older man and she appreciates the perks that come with that relationship, but she hates being controlled by him and she's heading up to his office to tell him that she's leaving him. Michael (Wood Harris) is a Manhattan bicycle messenger who has a chip on his shoulder, but he also has a loving wife and young daughter who is having a birthday today. Last, but certainly not least, is Eddie (Luis Guzmán), a WTC maintenance man who is on that elevator as part of a work call. Fortunately, Eddie is friendly with Metzie (Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg), who works the day shift in the elevator control room in the WTC's North Tower.

Like many others in the towers, the attack causes confusion and fear in the five people in that elevator, but their isolation just exacerbates those feelings. They realize that the explosion they heard, the elevator's sudden stop and their lack of cell phone service are probably connected and they begin talking about the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center and the airplane that flew into the Empire State Building in 1945, increasingly convinced that this is something like one of those incidents (or both). After repeated failed attempts to raise Metzie on the elevator's intercom, Eddie finally gets a hold of her and she reluctantly confirms their fears, based on news reports that she is watching from the basement of the North Tower. With a combination of information provided by Metzie, the limited resources they have at their disposal inside that elevator and their teamwork, those five trapped individuals try everything they can think of to free themselves, in between bonding and sharing personal details of their lives and trying to keep each other's growing fears from turning into panic. We also witness one desperate phone call that eventually successfully connects from inside the elevator and the valiant efforts by NYC fire fighters to save as many lives as possible even as the building starts coming apart.

"9/11" is a pretty good dramatization of the experience of being inside the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, but is far from perfect. Most film critics (and many Movie Fans) have accused this movie of being cheesy, unrealistic, overly melodramatic and even offensive, but those criticisms are unduly harsh. The dialog in the script (by James Carson, Steven James Golebiowski and Martin Guigui, who also directs) is simplistic, Guigui's direction is too tame (and his film's budget too small), while the acting lacks depth… but to simply focus on those things is to miss the big picture. This movie approaches the experience of being in those towers that day from a fresh perspective and showcases the humanity of that day's victims and survivors, alongside the heroism of the WTC's workers and the New York area's first responders. People who are overly critical of how believably such people are portrayed weren't in the Twin Towers on that horrible day and those who think such portrayals are manipulative or unnecessary have kept themselves from appreciating this interesting and sympathetic motion picture. "B"

There is no good place to start, as every aspect of filmmaking here was done wrong, so I'll name a few random points to paint you a picture: 1) There's a shot of Whoopi Goldberg walking down the street that looks like a shot from Birdemic. 2) Charlie Sheen's response to the courier randomly blurting out that Filipinos are the worst drivers because they're Asian is "Well that makes sense; the Phillipines are considered to be in Asia, so....*mumbles*". 3) Every shot of the towers is stock news footage. 4) Every 10 minutes the wife character has an emotional outburst in what is supposed to be a dramatic scene, but they cast a woman with a botox-frozen face to play her.

The acting is on the same level as Two and a Half Men, but whereas that is a sitcom that people watch for quick, cheap laughs, this movie is trying to be a serious drama. It switches from cringeworthy acting and dialog (that honestly made me laugh), to scenes of people crying while watching the towers collapsing. Instead of writing characters that we could care about, which would have led to some emotional weight, this movie tries to cheat its way to emotional weight by showing you stock news footage and some pretend firefighters running around, as if to say "Hey, remember THAT day? Sad, right? Remember how freaked out everyone was?".

Well, one thing does linger in the mind after having seen this 2017 movie titled "9/11", and that is if this movie was necessary? I mean, did we really need another movie based on those tragic events?

And of course the answer to that is individual. Some will say yes, some will say no, and some will be indifferent. I sat down to watch the movie in terms of it being a movie meant for entertainment purposes. So on that account, then I must say that I didn't really feel that "9/11" was a movie that was necessary. But hey, it was here and available, so of course I sat down to watch it.

Writers Martin Guigui and Steven James Golebiowski came up with a semi-adequate storyline and script. Sure, the movie was watchable, but it wasn't exactly an overly thrilling or all that interesting storyline. And it was a fairly predictable one at that, just to add insult to injury.

While the movie does have some pretty interesting names on the cast list, with the likes of Charlie Sheen, Whoopi Goldberg, Luis Guzmán and Bruce Davison, it just wasn't a movie that boasted particularly over-the-top impressive acting performances. It felt like people were running on auto-pilot here for the most of the time.

"9/11" is a movie that I will not be returning to watch a second time. First of all, the storyline just doesn't have the contents to support more than a single viewing. But the movie also just feels wholly and very unnecessary. I suppose having a mental picture of the horrors that took place on that day is better than something like this 2017 movie titled "9/11".

If you watch "9/11" because you are interesting in the historical aspects of that horrible tragedy, then believe me when I say that "9/11" is not going to be parting with any such historical facts on the screen.

"9/11" - if you take out the fact that it is based on a real life tragedy - is essentially just another run-of-the-mill people get stuck inside an elevator during some type of catastrophe movie. Sad to say so, but that is the truth.

Sure, I can respect and honor the dedication to the first responders and the victims of the tragedy, but this movie just didn't do much of anything aside from cashing in on a tragedy in order to make a buck.

All in all, "9/11" is a watchable movie, but one that failed to leave a lasting impression. And I doubt that I will be remembering this movie a year down the line from now. My rating of director Martin Guigui's 2017 movie lands on a very mediocre five out of ten stars.

I just realized the movie came out on the weekend before 9/11's 16th anniversary, but first and foremost, this movie is about people. It's a compelling story about how strangers from all walks of life, can just so happen in an elevator, set to the background of 9/11. These people start to bond as they attempt to survive.

It's trilling, suspenseful and very dramatic, especially the performance of Charlie Sheen, proving he is still capable of playing a character that's just not himself in a way (Don't even know the last time he played someone who was not named Charlie)

The whole movie feels like a play, and then I find out in the end credits that that's exactly what it was adapted from, a play called Elevator, a title I must admit I'd prefer over 9/11.

Though I understand why they called in 9/11, what's good about this character driven piece is the fact that it's about the characters and the story happens to be set on 9/11. I just love the good life lessons the story tells as these strangers get to know each other past the stereotypes we put on people on our first impressions. Very human.

Overall, it's not the best movie but I am impressed by the adaption. It really touches on the right emotions.

http://cinemagardens.com