The question shouldn?t be whether it?s too soon for ?World Trade Center,? a debate that?s been raging as we near both the film?s opening and the five-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. It?s here whether you?re ready for it or not ? ignore it, see something else, find some other way to remember and pay respect.

No, the real question is whether the film is accurate, whether it?s effective, whether it?s a fitting, moving tribute to the people who died and to those who found a way to survive. In that regard, the answer is a resounding yes.

There is not a single gratuitous minute in Oliver Stone?s film, which recreates the endless hours in which two Port Authority police officers were trapped beneath the rubble of the twin towers and tracks the panic of their family and friends who waited anxiously for news of their rescue.

But it?s also the safest film Stone has ever made. This is a director you expect to grab hold of an historical event ? as he has with the Vietnam War in ?Platoon? and the Kennedy assassination in ?JFK? ? and shake it tirelessly until some meaning falls out, some perspective that perhaps we hadn?t cared or dared to consider.

What Stone has come up with here is an exceptionally crafted, strongly acted, high-end made-for-TV movie. It?s visceral and intense, exceedingly faithful in its depiction of the fear and chaos, the ash and smoke, that enveloped New York that day. It can also knock you over with a moment as simple as two strangers hugging and crying over the shared unknown fate of their loved ones.

And yet it provides no insight, offers no political statement, doesn?t even begin to broach the subject of terrorism. The closest it comes is in the image of a much younger-looking President Bush addressing the nation on television, promising retribution (which did draw some groans at a recent screening).

Instead, ?World Trade Center? approaches the overwhelming subject of September 11 by telling the story of two brave men: Sgt. John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Officer Will Jimeno (Michael Pena), two of the first to enter the towers and two of the last to be pulled out 24 hours later.

Stone shows us what it was like to be inside the buildings when they came crumbling down.

John and Will, along with other policemen and firefighters, were in the concourse between the two towers when the rumbling began. They sought refuge in an elevator shaft; they ultimately found themselves in a living hell. Pinned by giant slabs of concrete, choked by dust and ash, with little air and even less light, the two men could hear but not see each other. The sense of helplessness is suffocating.

Screenwriter Andrea Berloff, with only her first feature, worked closely with the officers and their families and came up with a script that?s full of big, profound moments and small, intimate details that surprisingly strike with even more of an emotional impact.

None of us could possibly know how we would react in such a situation; John and Will kept each other awake ? and, through sheer strength of spirit, alive ? just by talking to each other. They did it with the usual get-to-know-you chitchat about their wives and children, by singing the theme song to ?Starsky & Hutch? (in a rare but necessary example of comic relief) and, when things look especially bleak, by praying.

Meanwhile, at homes in Goshen, New York, and Clifton, New Jersey, Stone visits the officers? families and makes us feel their mounting dread. (And at a nondescript office in Wilton, Connecticut, a former Marine played by Michael Shannon watches TV footage of Manhattan under attack and feels compelled to spring into action. It will prove to be an appropriate move.)

John?s wife, Donna (a lovely and powerful Maria Bello), tries to preoccupy their four kids with talk of birthday parties and Yankees playoff tickets, and fights the urge to snap back when one of her sons, out of his own fear, questions her dedication. Will?s wife, Allison (a lovely and vulnerable Maggie Gyllenhaal), who?s five months? pregnant with their second daughter, struggles to find the right answer when their little girl asks whether daddy is coming home.

All these scenes ring with an achingly poignant truth. And the fact that Cage and Pena had to do all their acting from the neck up ? prone and partially shadowed ? is a testament to their deep reservoirs of skill and talent.

Yet as a whole, ?World Trade Center? isn?t the devastating experience that ?United 93? was. Of course they?re totally different films that approach September 11 from totally different angles. But it?s impossible not to compare them, especially since they arrive in theatres just a few months apart.

Perhaps it was the documentary-style aesthetic, or the cast consisting of unknown actors. ?United 93? made every muscle in your body tense up; it caused a rare physical reaction. It was both a tribute to the passengers? heroism and an indictment of the miscommunication and mistrust that ultimately contributed to their violent deaths. It was immediate and inescapable.

?World Trade Center,? meanwhile, is a life-affirming celebration of humanity ? of the possibility of kindness, teamwork, selflessness and love under the most horrific circumstances.

The world is ready to see that.

?World Trade Center,? a Paramount Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for intense and emotional content, some disturbing images and language. Running time: 129 minutes. Three stars out of four.