A Quickie Movie Review - "World Trade Center"

I went to see World Trade Center today. Like many, I was not sure what to expect from Oliver Stone, the dictionary picture boy found at "paranoid." I was quite surprised.

My surprise is summed up in the character of Dave Karnes played convincingly by Michael Shannon. Karnes is the Marine veteran who left his cushy job in Wilton, Connecticut when he saw what had happened at the World Trade Center on 09/11. He donned his fatigues that same day and headed for lower Manhattan. He is the man who with another Marine found the heroes of the story buried under the rubble.

Stone treats this man with respect, and therein lies my surprise. In the closing credits he references the fact that Karnes then returned to the Marine Corp and served two tours of duty in Iraq. For Stone to have done this, given his history, is remarkable.

Karnes is certainly an interesting character. One of the fire fighters at the scene asks him his name. Karnes replies, "Staff Sergeant David Karnes." The firefighter jokingly says, "I think I'll need something shorter." Karnes replies stone faced, "Staff Sergeant." Yep, pure Jar Head.

It is a movie well worth seeing. While Stone misses the overall horror we as a nation felt, he does successfully take the events of 09/11 to a very personal level. He puts us in the heads and hearts of the characters.

An excellent movie.