Review of 9/11

If there was ever a film where it could be considered a nuisance, it's this. Widely considered to be highly offensive and distasteful upon its release on Sept 8th 2017. This movie directed & written by Martin Guigui with help from co-writer Steven Golebiowski is notorious best remember for its casting of actor Charlie Sheen, a controversial Sept 11th conspiracy theorist as the lead role in their adaptation of playwright Patrick James Carson's stage play 'Elevator'. While, his acting is nothing new in the film as millionaire Jeffery Cage. His presence in this production and large amount of control of the script is highly jarring. I don't know why the director was so driven to get Sheen to pick this role; even after the actor first dismiss it. It's like if director Steven Spielberg really wanting to hired Holocaust denier author David Irving by offering him to rewrite the screenplay for 1993 'Schindler's List'. It's doesn't make sense. Either Martin is total insane madman or he's a secret genius doing this as a publicity stunt. After all, controversy did draw eyeballs to the product. That's how I found out about this movie. Nevertheless in the end, Sheen indeed took the job. Although, he apologized for some of his more offensive claims. He pretty much got his wish. Not only did the movie allow the outspoken advocate of the truth movement, a platform to hint the collapse of the WTC being a controlled destruction throughout the movie, but it also allow the actor to look like the serious dramatic performer. He did this to save face after years upon years of making himself look like a fool through his many infidelities, poor comedic roles, problems with the law, his awful public relationship with the media in which he call himself 'a winning warlock with tiger blood' while high on drugs and his troublesome outrageous backstage antics with producers. He got all the spotlight. In truth, the movie is supposed to be about a group of people stuck in a lift as the attacks on the World Trade Center unfolds around them. Yet, it center stage Sheen as Cage as the de facto conservative white messiah leader having to led the stereotypical poorly written clueless women like his soon to be ex-wife Eve (Gina Gershon) & trophy wife, Tina (Olga Fonda) & two bickering racist minorities like custodial engineer Eddie (Luis Guzman) & bike messenger Michael (Wood Harris) out of their unfortunate circumstances through cheesy and clunky lines of dialogue. The movie even ends with the character sacrificing his life, in order to do so without telling us if any of the other characters survived. It's essentially grandiose, exhibitionistic, and highly narcissistic. Just like Charlie Sheen in real life. It stick out like a sour thumb. Despite that, the other performers were alright in their acting with the limited time, they were given. With Whoopi Goldberg perhaps being the best from all of them. However, there is other reasons to hate the movie on, besides the mediocrity acting. One of them is the fact that instead of telling the true life story of any of the survivors or victims of the tragedy, the film chose instead to tell an imaginary one. Don't get me wrong, I know fictional films like 2011 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' or even 2010 'Remember Me' used elements of the event as well. However, 9/11 wasn't those film's main focus. In this movie, the unfolding of the disaster is ever so presence. It really needed to be historical accurate. The event should had been told by people who were there rather than a script student from Pima Community College in Tuscon, Arizona. It's sad, because there were real life people being stuck in an elevator that day that could had needed the limelight. Their stories were interesting. Yet, for a number of reasons, this made up one is not. One big mistake is adding unneeded drama and action to the already built up intense film. Moments like the 'Tower of Terror' like freefall look highly hilarious with the film's low budget green scenes & wired work. Also, the movie felt a need to drag with the characters having a 'Breakfast Club' style discussion between them. For a flick that has a run time of 90 minutes, it certainly has a lot of fitter and padding. The director really does used the archive news footage of the events, a little too much. To the point that the film was condemned by survivors, politicians, and celebrities for using the tragedy for financial gain. I have to somewhat agree. I would have love to see whatever made profits from this movie go to New York City charities or the victim's families rather than Hollywood big heads. This film stinks of exploitation. Thank goodness, it became a box office flop. Not even Sheen bother going to the premiere. Overall: While, we should never forget what happen on Sept 11th 2001. I think it might be best to forget that this movie existed. In the end, this is one flick not worth remembering.