Extraordinary, everyday heroism is what this movie is about. It’s not about Director Oliver Stone offering up a conspiracy theory flick (e.g., "JFK"). Paul Greengrass’s "United 93" and A & E television’s "Flight 93" had many wondering if it was too soon to present this story as de facto entertainment. While those movies were difficult to watch, in large part because you knew it would end badly, it’s just the opposite here. This film is about two first responders to the WTC attack, real life Port Authority cops, who were trapped in the collapse of the building and made it out alive.

The story focuses on these two men, John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, portrayed by Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena (from "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby" and TVs "The Shield," and "CSI"), who helped keep each other alert and alive while waiting to be rescued. They went into the WTC but never got past the concourse, as that was when the building collapsed, burying them. Stone masterfully recreated the sensation of that moment in time.

Trapped under tons of concrete, with electrical fires and cave-in threatening to plunge them deeper into the massive crevasse created by the explosions, McLoughlin and Jimeno kept each other from falling asleep or giving up. They wanted to hear the rescuers that they assured each other would come. Their injuries were extensive and each man recalls, in pain-induced periods of quiet withdrawal, memories of family. The film moves back and forth from the crushing confines of entrapment to what is going on with the men’s families and the rescuers. There is never a dull moment. When you see a story such as this, you understand the cliché "truth is stranger than fiction."

The acting is superb and there are no bad guys. Cage and Pena provide insight into the mental aspect of the will to live. It made us think about some of the men trapped in mines earlier this year in various parts of the world.

This is one of Cage’s best performances; on par with what we saw in Martin Scorsese’s "Bringing out the Dead," also set in NYC. Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal (the wives of McLoughlin and Jimeno) managed to come across as more than just aggrieved spouses. Gyllenhaal’s intensity was palpable as Allison, to the point that when her father wanted to get a sedative for her just in case "she loses it," you had no trouble relating to his point of view.

Bello would win an Oscar, if there were one, for the wife who can suffer the most pain ("The History of Violence," "The Sisters"). While we like her in these and other supporting roles ("Thank You for Smoking," "The Cooler"), she’s so good that we’d like to see her in the lead role, carrying a movie. If there was ever an example of women not having the roles they deserve, she proves the point. Viola Davis is another actress who commands attention, even in five or so minutes on screen. What Davis does here is reminiscent of her role in "Antwone Fisher." Movies that have multiple great supporting roles have the potential to become classics and this is in that category.

Director Stone does not show planes flying into buildings. Everything is from the point of view of the first responders, with the majority of the film about the men who were trapped and those attempting to rescue them while the families were frantically praying and hoping they would survive. Stone even replaced actors with actual rescuers to make the film as realistic as possible.

To us the only downer is the feeling of revenge that flickers when anger arises. It was an act of war on US soil that merits a focus similar to the Pearl Harbor attack. Then, we knew who and where the enemy was. Now, things are somewhat more complicated. If we are to avoid a "tipping point" of violence, something different needs to be done in this war on terrorism. Sage advice comes to mind, which says that if you keep trying the same thing and it does not work, it’s insanity to continue the same course of action and expect a different result. On that day 2,769 people perished in the WTC. Once the building collapsed, only 20 made it out. This story is about two of them. There is a lesson to be learned. We hope that our world leaders get the message.