"WTC" (preview) hits (Erin's small) screen

"I'd comment on his mustache if it weren't a film about Sept. 11."

Admittedly, that was the first thought I had when I pressed play on the press release VHS tape I got of "World Trade Center," Oliver Stone's movie that comes out Aug. 9 about, you guessed it, two policemen on Sept. 11. (I don't usually get movie previews, so I rushed home to watch it ... disappointing.

He tries to be poignant by not mentioning anything (no credits, no "Starring Nicholas Cage, Directed by Oliver Stone," etc., lines), and putting it to this orchestra soundtrack. I was kind of disappointed, though.

Nicholas Cage (who, in my opinion, is pretty much the go-to guy for movies that go right to the end of my brain's "must-see" line, and stay there) stars as one of the two policemen featured in the movie. He lives. Sorry to give away the ending, but that news story pretty much gives it away.

I don't know if I'm ready to see a film about Sept. 11, but if it's like the 2 1/2-minute preview I just got, I think I'll be OK. It's pretty sappy, not as gritty as I'd expect a Sept. 11 film to be. It just seems so fake -- his voice, his lines. If you're on your way to the World Trade Center, you're not saying words of camaraderie, pensively looking at your partner, speaking slowly. "I never was prepared for something this size," he says. No, I think in real life you were probably saying "Oh, s***, this does not look good." But, what do I know. I wasn't there.

The thing that bothers me is it looks like a movie. Like it didn't happen in real life. You're thinking, "Whoa, I wonder how they you order all that dust. Is there a dust company? 'Hello, dust company, I need dust?'", which is precisely what people should NOT be thinking during such a serious movie.

Remember Robert DeNiro's TV special, "9/11"? Now that's kind of how I thought this would be. But it kind of looks like every other disaster movie ... which it's not.

I suppose you can't judge a movie by a 2 1/2-minute preview, but that's why they sent it to me, is it not?

Long story short, will I go see it? Yeah, probably. I think I'm just being a little hard on it because I don't think people want to watch a sappy Hollywood "World Trade Center." We want it to be more real. I don't think anyone could have made this movie without some criticism. How do you document one of the worst tragedies in my lifetime? Well ... I don't know. But I don't think Nicholas Cage would be in it. Just my two cents.