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Back Shelf Beauties
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Ladder 49 After weeks of watching commercials featuring The Ohio Players' song Fire, Ladder 49 makes it way into the Cineplex this weekend. While it's not a five-alarm stunner, the ladies should get ready for Grade A beefcake. I've been told the guys in this movie are dreamy. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Jack Morrison - a heroic firefighter in Baltimore called to a massive warehouse blaze in the middle of the night. While saving another person, the floor underneath Jack collapses causing him to fall several levels. While laying on the ground and injured, he thinks back about his career, life and love of the job. Will the men of Ladder 49 be able to save their fallen comrade? Ladder 49 is not a daring film, but more of a middle of the road, safe, sometimes cliché, star-driven movie with a few wonderful emotional moments. Writer Lewis Colick gives us the paint-by-numbers version of a firefighter movie complete with the pain the guys feel when they lose a member of the team, rookie hazing, and how Jack and his family deal with the pressures of the job, but what else can you do with this type of movie and subject? Ladder 49 is more realistic than other movies you have seen, and Colick does give us some interesting moments such as the powerful climax and the bonding that occurs between the guys, but the movie is not breaking any new ground. Director Jay Russell does a commendable job of managing a complicated shoot in Baltimore including massive firefighting scenes, but he is best at showing us the more personal and quiet moments when they are there. Russell and Colick could have done a better job establishing the father-son relationship between Jack and Chief Kennedy (John Travolta), but it's clear enough to all of us watching movie, especially when Kennedy reaches out to help Jack try to understand what he wants out of the firefighting career versus raising his family. Ladder 49 is a movie to see for Phoenix and Travolta. I'll be the first to admit Travolta is too pretty to be a grizzled fire captain, but he has some great scenes, like Kennedy's fury over his team's infighting and how they aren't thinking of the important duties at hand at a crucial moment in the movie. Yes, Travolta fans even get to see him dance a bit, which will increase tickets sales by at least 10%. Meanwhile, Phoenix puts in one of the best performances I have ever seen from him. Phoenix morphs into a firefighter right before our very eyes. Like Travolta, he will never be mistaken for a tough guy, but Phoenix truly starts to carry himself like a firefighter in stature and attitude. He shows the cockiness and seriousness of his character as he stalks through the firehouse like a man who knows what he is doing. I had the pleasure of seeing Ladder 49 with a bunch of firefighters, so you know they were going to let me know if the movie missed the mark. As they were weeping at the movie's final scenes, I realized it might have hit the mark. It won't blow you away, but Ladder 49 is a solid, enjoyable movie. 2 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
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