Some might complain that “9/11” reduces the events of September 11, 2001, to just another disaster movie, but that’s actually one of its strengths: this isn’t a film that tries to parse the big, awful picture of what happened that day, or the geopolitics that led to it or the worldwide reverberations it caused. By focusing on a small group of people trapped somewhere they shouldn’t be, the film can, at least intermittently, succeed as a human-sized drama.
In fact, titling the movie “Elevator” — the name of Patrick Carson’s original play, adapted here by Steven James Golebiowski and director Martin Guigui — might have relieved the film’s implied burden of telling such an immense story, even if its nomenclature would have been much less marketable. It’s a flawed production that can barely hide its low budget or its theatrical roots, but it never becomes the tacky exploitation exercise that you might expect from a movie called “9/11.”
If nothing else, the writers pass the major hurdle required of all historical dramas; the story generates suspense even though we already know the larger outcome. The five people in the elevator are in no way meant to stand in for every single casualty that day — and how could they? — but as they provide a glimpse into what it must have been like to be trapped in one of the Twin Towers, I genuinely cared about whether or not they would make it out alive.
The characters come together briskly: World Trade Center building supervisor Metzie (Whoopi Goldberg) pops by a diner on her way to work, where custodian Eddie (Luis Guzmán) has his coffee break interrupted with an assignment to unclog a toilet on one of the upper floors. Bike messenger Michael (Wood Harris, “Creed”) tries to get through errands so he can make it his daughter’s birthday. An upset Tina (Olga Fonda, “The Vampire Diaries”) has personal business to attend to, and billionaire Jeffrey (Charlie Sheen) and his wife Eve (Gina Gershon) hammer out the final details of their divorce, which she wants more than he does.
As Metzie runs the control board downstairs, the other five are riding in an elevator when the first plane hits, trapping them. As they try to make their way out, with Metzie providing guidance from the ground floor, they unburden their feelings and anxieties with each other. (Michael, clearly having seen this kind of movie before, says, “I’m not doing this” when it comes his turn to share with the group.) More effective than the chat are the escape efforts, which offer genuine suspense.
It’s the ensemble that makes this material work more often than it doesn’t; Sheen lacks the vitality he once brought to the screen, but neither does he embarrass himself. Harris, Goldberg (saddled with an unfortunate wig) and Guzmán are solidly empathetic and relatable in unshowy character turns.
It’s Gershon who really shines here. Her telephone scene with Jacqueline Bisset, as her mother, carries the power and the tragedy of those real-life calls we heard that day from the World Trade Center; that moment, and a later exchange between Bisset and Prestyn Bates as Jeffrey and Eve’s son, go a long way toward giving “9/11” the dramatic impact it needs.
On the minus side, there’s Fonda, who wears Tina’s insecurities on both sleeves, and the muddy cinematography by Massimo Zeri, which gives the film the copy-of-a-copy look you’d expect from a bootleg DVD you bought in Times Square. Jeff Toyne’s score comes within about four bars of overdoing the angelic choir, but it’s mostly effective.
Sixteen years later, 9/11 remains too touchy a subject for a movie as clumsy as “9/11” to get entirely right. And even if the film relies too much on the real-life horror of the actual event to loan it some gravitas, the performances touch the emotions honestly and deservedly.
How 22 Movies and TV Shows Portrayed 9/11 (Photos)
Saturday marks 20 years since 9/11, and Hollywood has struggled all that time with how to address it. Here's how 22 films and TV shows tried to tell stories tied to Sept. 11, 2001.
"South Park" (2001)
The first episode of the always topical dark comedy to air after 9/11 revolved around America's invasion of Afghanistan.
Comedy Central
"The West Wing" (2001)
Creator and showrunner Aaron Sorkin wrote this special episode, about a fictional terrorist attack, and it aired just three weeks after the attacks.
NBC
"Law & Order"
The 9/11 attacks occurred during Season 12 of the long-running drama, and several later episodes revolved around it, including one episode where a woman's remains were dumped at Ground Zero in order to cover up a murder.
NBC
"24" (2001)
Shot a few months before the attacks, the Fox spy thriller became more timely and relevant than it ever intended to be.
Fox
"Third Watch" (2001)
This drama about New York City's first responders remembered 9/11 with a non-fiction episode, followed by two episodes putting its main characters directly in the aftermath of 9/11.
NBC
"25th Hour" (2002)
Spike Lee's drama, featuring a pivotal scene within sight of Ground Zero, was the first major film to confront 9/11. It premiered in December 2002.
Disney
"Rescue Me" (2004)
The Dennis Leary dramedy focuses on a firefighter who lost his best friend in the 9/11 attacks. The events of that day would reverberate through the entire series.
FX
"Tiger Cruise" (2004)
This Disney Channel original movie saw Hayden Panettiere's character dealing with the events of 9/11 as they happened, while on a cruise with military members and their families.
Disney Channel
"United 93" (2006)
Paul Greengrass took a straight, fact-based approach to tell the story of the passengers who tried to take back the plane.
Universal
"World Trade Center" (2006)
Oliver Stone's drama portrayed the events of 9/11 from the perspective of first responders.
Paramount
"Reign Over Me" (2007)
Adam Sandler played a man struggling five years after the 9/11 attacks killed his wife and daughter.
Sony
"Postal" (2007)
Uew Boll's crass comedy opened with a scene joking about fictional 9/11 hijackers - suggesting that they flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center by accident.
Vivendi
"Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" (2008)
The comedy threequel followed the best friends as they're detained and sent to Guantanamo Bay, after a paranoid fellow plane passenger mistakes Kumar's bong for a bomb.
New Line
"Fringe" (2009)
The season one finale of the sci-fi drama featured an alternate world, where the 9/11 attacks hit the White House instead of the Twin Towers.
Fox
"Julie and Julia" (2009)
Set in 2002, Amy Adams' character Julie starts cooking as a way to get away from her stressful day job of fielding calls from 9/11 victims during the rebuilding of the World Trade Center.
Sony
"Remember Me" (2010)
The Robert Pattinson drama had a twist ending that culminated in the 9/11 attacks. Many people found it an odd fit.
Stephen Daldry's adaptation of the Jonathan Safron Foer novel followed a kid who lost his father in the 9/11 attacks.
Warner Bros
"Homeland" (2011)
Set in a distinctly post-9/11 world, the series started off mirroring the themes of paranoia and terrorist threats present in the US in the years following the attacks.
Showtime
"The Reluctant Fundamentalist" (2012)
Mira Nair's thriller is based on Mohsin Hamid's novel about a Pakistani man (Riz Ahmed) who's a rising star on Wall Street until 9/11 upends both his career and his personal life as he becomes the subject of suspicion.
IFC Films
"9/11" (2017)
Charlie Sheen, Gina Gershon and Whoopi Goldberg star in a flawed adaptation of a play called "Elevator" about people trapped in the World Trade Center that fateful day, but it never becomes the tacky exploitation exercise that you might expect.
Atlas Distribution
"The Looming Tower" (2018)
The Jeff Daniels-led Hulu miniseries spent much of its run depicting the events leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks, with the finale episode diving into the day itself and the immediate fallout.
Hulu
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From ”United 93“ to special episodes of ”The West Wing“ and ”Law & Order,“ here’s how Hollywood has portrayed the terrorist attacks on screen
Saturday marks 20 years since 9/11, and Hollywood has struggled all that time with how to address it. Here's how 22 films and TV shows tried to tell stories tied to Sept. 11, 2001.