Ladder 49
dir. Russell
Opens Fri Oct 1
Various Theaters
At first glance, it’d be easy to categorize Ladder 49 as a piece of post-9/11 heroic schmaltz–then again, sappy movies about firefighters were being made long before 9/11. But that familiar, post-9/11 heroic glaze of idealism is certainly present in Ladder 49, a high-gloss look at the lives of supposedly “ordinary” firefighters that only wishes it could be as moving as most 9/11-inspired heroic schmaltz.
The story of firefighter Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix) is told through flashbacks as he reflects on his career… while, of course, trapped in a 20-story blaze. Jack, as a rookie 10 years earlier, is full of piss and vinegar, and finds a mentor in Mike Kennedy (John Travolta), the captain of the firehouse. Jack goes about the normal, unexciting drama of family life–getting married, starting a family–before he takes on the search and rescue duties of the firehouse, upping the danger factor of his work many times over.
As a portrait of the life of a firefighter, Ladder 49 trades depth for drama, establishing itself as being more concerned with squeezing tears from the audience than accurately presenting any sort of realistic portrayal of the harried lives of firefighters. (The film’s favorite tactic? Plenty of montages set to soulful contemporary music, which are clumsily meant to stir the soul, but instead just up the cheese factor.) Not helping are the thinly drawn characters–the audience is never given any background on where characters come from, why they do what they do, or why the increasingly puffy John Travolta is so excruciating to watch as he hacks his way through his trite lines.
The only redeeming part of Ladder 49 is the first-rate special effects and genuinely scary firefighting sequences. As an action film, Ladder 49 might have worked–but as a drama relying on manipulation and firehouse “boys will be boys” hijinx, it’s pure TV drama: weepy, bland, and soggy.