Anyone else watching it? Thoughts so far?
Unlike the Daudet Bros. film, this was banal, maudlin, redundant, overhyped, self-congratulating and a waste of time.
Well, for those who didn’t see it (apparently everybody), spoilers follow:
I must have missed the “overhyped” part of it, but…
Redundant: yes. After two years, you had to fill up the last 15 minutes replaying what you’ve already shown me? Come on!
Maudlin…yes. Can anything about 9/11 NOT be maudlin? Maybe in 10 years, but not now.
Banal…I don’t know. Capturing raw emotions as they are happening tends to get the most basic, primal instincts on tape. So the filming done within a week of 9/11 I would not call banal…I would call it genuine.
However, the “interviews” that were interspersed with the footage…hmmmm. When the shaved-headed guy said in a later interview that when he saw the second tower fall “I immediately thought of how this would change politics - just look at what has happened over the last two years” I thought - COME ON!!! As thousands of people are dying you’re lamenting about how politics will change (obviously NOT in your favor)? Either you are REALLY cold-hearted or you are (more likely) dramatizing things (read: lying) to make a better story.
Sooo…good concept, poorly executed.