I don’t mean to be a killjoy but those Metacritic review samples for Oliver Stone‘s World Trade Center (opening today) average out to a 68% positive. Any grade below 70 is a flunk unless the teacher likes you and cuts you a break, and there are some stiff rebukes out there, particularly from L.A. Times critic Kenny Turan, New York critic David Edelstein, and Toronto Globe & Mail critic Rick Groen.
Not that moviegoers give a damn what these guys think, but still…
The question facing WTC is whether paying audiences will be sufficiently enamored with the film’s plainly emotional, family-centric, non-political current to bypass the second-act confinement problem. Patriots, righties, flag-saluters, supporters of the Iraq War, etc. — Paramount needs you guys to turn out in force and push World Trade Center past a low-to-mid 20s showing for the weekend and a low-30s showing for the full five days.