The shadow of 9/11 hangs heavy over a lot of people so it's no wonder that now, over three years after the event, I'm still getting documentaries on the subject. Hopefully with time the work will become more analytical: The early pieces were immediate reactions and time capsules and eventually they'll turn more commercial (Two network mini-series on 9/11 are in the works right now.) But the short documentary Twin Towers, I'm sad to say doesn't deliver much context, impact or emotional depth.

It's a shame to have to criticize a film that's basically an epitaph for a seemingly fine human being (and judging by the film's Oscar win for short documentary, not many people tried) but this production doesn't really work very hard to give us a portrait of a man or of a tragedy. While the packaging and hype say that this is "the true story of two brothers," it's really only about one.

The filmmakers (including Law & Order guru Scott Wolf) set out a half year before 9/11 to create a reality show following the members of the NYPD's Emergency Services Squad. Footage from this (presumably unaired) pilot comprises about half of the thirty-five minute Twin Towers. That's because the man that film spends the most time with, Joseph Vigiano, perished along with dozens of his fellow officers. Vigiano is shown to have been an upstanding citizen, decorated veteran, and fearless hero. The film's most interesting segments (unfortunately rushed as they are) find Vigiano and the rest of his Emergency Services squad leading high-risk raids on armed-and-dangerous suspects.

This could have been gripping material for a higher-profile version of Cops. But instead Vigiano's biography serves as little more than a ten-minute parade of clips and talking heads. Then the film flashes forward six months to the World Trade Center in flames (using the same footage we've seen in countless other pieces) and featuring Vigiano's squad-mates talking about the loss. That's it. He's there one minute and then gone the next. It's a bit masochistic to watch a film with this structure but in that sense it is true: Vigiano himself, early on, talks about kissing his wife and kids every day because he doesn't want them to be left without a sweet memory in case he doesn't come home.

Unfortunately John Vigiano Jr., Joseph's older firefighter brother, is not featured in the film at all. (Presumably because the Wolf pilot centered on the Emergency Services squad.) So any impression that the packaging or advertising gives that the audience will get to know him is false. The figure that does make an impact, however, is John Sr., father of the brothers. He beams with pride in the first half (although with caution since, as a veteran firefighter himself, he knows the risks) and then appears emotionally hollowed-out in the second half. His eloquence in talking about his tremendous loss gives the film whatever resonance it has and, even though the production doesn't offer him much support, opening himself up took courage.

VIDEO:
The full-frame video mostly looks good. The pilot footage is very cinematic - not at all the video footage to be expected from a TV documentary on cops. It does have that Law & Order-style (which makes fiction grittier and, curiously, makes real-life seem somewhat fake) and even uses that cop show's font in the titles (which was a mistake, I think, since it reeks of some sort of Wolf Films synergy.)

The 9/11 footage is obviously culled from a variety of video sources and has been processed to blend with the film footage a little better. It works. Overall, the video presentation is quite good.

AUDIO:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is fine. Some of the location recording is a bit muddy but overall it gets the job done. There are also English, French and German subtitles.

EXTRAS:
None. Which is a shame because the film is so short and there must exist much more footage.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
It bugs me to criticize this film, but I don't think it's up to the level of emotional honesty of its subjects. They bare their souls and then find themselves cut into a slight, unmoving production. Why the filmmakers didn't take their Oscar winner back to the editing table to expand for DVD release is beyond me. It just doesn't hit home the way some of the other 9/11-related DVDs do.