DC 9/11: Time of Crisis (2003) starring Timothy Bottoms, John Cunningham, David Fonteno, Gregory Itzin, Penny Johnson, Stephen Macht, Mary Gordon Murray directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith Movie Review

DC 9/11: Time of Crisis (2003)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Timothy Bottoms in DC 9/11: Time of Crisis (2003)

Fact or Fiction? Wholly Fascinating

On the morning of September 11, 2001 United States Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld is holding a breakfast meeting with members of the United States congress to try and increase the defence budget as he fears something big is about to happen. Meanwhile President Bush is at Emma E. Booker Elementary school in Florida listening to children read when he is informed of a second plane hitting the tower. As the reporters buzz as they become aware of the situation and prepare to question him over the unfolding terrorist attacks the President intervenes to protect the children from the news of the act of terrorism and leaves where upon he grounds all civilian flights and takes stock of the situation before eventually heading for Washington D.C. via Air Force One. As those who are not required are evacuated from the Whitehouse the rest of the cabinet meet. On his way back news of another unresponsive plane comes in as it fears that someone within the terrorist organization has that days code words causing him to have to temporarily divert. What follows covers the days after the terrorist's attacks and the work of President Bush and his cabinet.

He said, she said, he thinks he said, she thinks she said, they did this, know he did that. I could carry on along those lines because when you are dealing with a movie which not only deals with actual events but those surrounding politics and the President of America it is going to cause disagreement. To put it simply you will have some who will say that "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" is an accurate representation of what happened on and after September 11, 2001 whilst others will tell you that it is a work of fiction and made to make President Bush look good. Here is the good news for you, I have no interest in American politics as I am a Brit and so have no political bias, instead I am watching and reviewing "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" purely as a movie fan.

Now whilst I have no political bias I will say one thing right of the bat and say that "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" is made in such a way that it does have an aspect of being a propaganda piece, made to show Bush and his cabinet in the best light possible. But at the same time it also tries to show the difficult decisions which Bush and his administration faced in those days following the terrorist strikes. As such the scene at the school where Bush is shown to take stock of the situation and chose to carry on with the planned interaction with the children for a few minutes as not to spook them represents everything which the movie is about, showing him to be sensible enough not to do anything rash and wise enough to intervene before the reporters cause a state of panic with their questioning. Yes you may question whether that is exactly how things played out but it highlights one of the choices which suddenly presented Bush and his administration in a time of trouble.

Alongside the barrage of tough decisions to take it also attempts to show President Bush as a man who took his position seriously and when events lead to him being unable to return to Washington immediately due to the risk to his life we see how he feels he should be there to lead his team and also to be there for the nation, leading from the front rather than cowering away somewhere else. Yes you can go down the route of saying whether it is the truth or not but with the obvious intention of the movie to show Bush in a good light it serves the purpose.

I could go on because every single scene in "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" serves a purpose, builds on the agenda of the movie makers to show President Bush in a positive light which immediately means you will have those who may not side with Bush and his politics pouring scorn on to what is being represented at us. As such you have to watch "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" in full knowledge that everything presented to us may or may not be 100% accurate but it makes for an interesting movie. The acting also makes for an interesting movie with Timothy Bottoms entertaining as President Bush, playing him as a man who took his job seriously and wanted to lead his people dealing with a cabinet who at times tried to go against his decisions.

What this all boils down to is that "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" is a movie which if you are into American politics will cause you to either love or hate it. But watched as an outsider, as a movie fan it is an interesting movie and an interesting look at what Might have gone on behind the scenes. In fact if "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis" wasn't based on real events and had been written purely as a political drama about a fictitious situation it could have been excellent.


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