It’s hard to think about buying a ticket for Ladder 49 without feeling a bit icky, considering that it seeks to make money while appealing to our nation’s wonderfully sincere desire to embrace firefighters after the horrors of 9/11. In the wrong hands, a new fireman film could easily become so exploitative that it would make Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story look like American Splendor.
Those fears can be pushed aside, however, and you can leave your antiseptic towelettes at home because Ladder 49 won’t leave you feeling used but instead will thrill you with feelings of fear, laughter, sadness and appreciation. It’s a film that does a great service to the profession it portrays, and it may just be one of the best movies of the year.
Director Jay Russell (My Dog Skip) has quite obviously taken it upon himself to guide this film like a big brother from Lewis Colick’s script right on through to its appropriate fruition. Rather than a standard good guy-bad guy plot, his film stubbornly refuses structuring; rather than giving the audience the ending they may desire or expect, it goes out on a limb; most surprisingly, this is a movie set in an American city that actually films in that city!
Either Russell has snapshots of his studio head in a compromising position, or he is the most persuasive speaker since Obi-Wan Kenobi; either way, his obstinate nature is our blessing.
Ladder 49 shows us life through the eyes of Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix), a courageous firefighter staring down death while trapped in a collapsing building. With his life rushing past, Morrison remembers his time as a rookie at a Baltimore-area firehouse, then the day that his job led him to his future wife, and all the tragedy, triumph and tribulation the two of them have gone through while his brotherly firefighters stood by their side.
Ladder 49 has no real plot, and that frees it up to be what it should be: a study of men, and a study of fire, and of how the two do battle with each other. The camaraderie in this firehouse is contagious, and characters like the irascible Lenny (Robert Patrick), the charismatic Dennis (Billy Burke) and the fatherly Chief Kennedy (John Travolta) feel like they could wander right off the screen , put an arm around you and buy you a beer.
No matter how ruthlessly they tease each other (and they do, to great comedic effect), these men are professionals. They are also haunted souls, who know the next fire alarm that rings could be signaling their last day of life.
Jack’s wife Linda (Jacinda Barrett) knows this, and she tries to support her husband even when she knows she shouldn’t. Real-life spouses of firemen and police officers will likely weep in solidarity with Linda as she listens to her husband explain his seemingly suicidal desire to request promotions that make him closer to the fire, or the jump, or the rescue. She’s made the mistake of pledging her love to a real-life hero, as all these men have similarly made the foolish choice to befriend each other, and Russell puts this on display while dragging you into the same trap.
Ladder 49 boasts some terrific special effects fueling several action scenes that will catch you holding your breath. Do these moments of adventure surpass the hitherto gold standard for this genre, Ron Howard’s Backdraft? No, not quite. But the characters are more interesting by half, and that alone makes this the superior film.
Russell’s direction is self-assured, relaxed and respectful, as are the performances he extracts from the faces on-screen. Several of the actors pull out their best work in years, the type that rekindle deteriorating careers. Travolta wields a warmth and sense of humor here that is the best, and often most underutilized, weapon in his acting arsenal.
Robert Patrick, who has spent more than a decade confused with his breakthrough character in Terminator 2, finally gets a chance to be something more than a monster pretending to have a human heart. Even the oft-maligned Morris Chestnut, last seen leaving a repulsive odor in theaters showing Anacondas, might manage to jerk a few tears out of your eyes.
Indeed, the water flowing in screenings of Ladder 49 won’t necessarily be coming out of the firefighter’s hoses, and that’s no more of a bad thing than it was when Saving Private Ryan made us all solemnly reflect on the sacrifices of The Greatest Generation. The film does almost as much for the men in red, in fact, as it does for the career of Joaquin Phoenix, an actor whose hype has always seemed to tower over his actual non-Gladiator output.
Phoenix displays a charm, solemnity and inner conflict that brings Jack to life, and it’s the best he’s ever been on screen. If Phoenix is destined to be as big a deal as many believe, the combination of this, his upcoming Johnny Cash biopic and last year’s underrated Buffalo Soldiers may be looked back on someday as the period when he began to hit his stride.
Ladder 49 isn’t flawless – Barrett’s performance seems like a placeholder that became permanent when a better actress couldn’t be found, Balthazar Getty and Jay Hernandez are just a few of the fine actors who vanish into the background, and the film milks its powerful ending for so long that it gets watered down a bit – but it is something of a modern miracle.
It’s an exploitative movie that refuses to exploit, a big-studio picture that feels intimate, and a thrilling ride that is powered by humanity, not explosions and car chases. Anyone who knows a fire fighter, anyone who’s ever been saved by a firefighter, and anyone who hopes they’ll never have to meet one should see this movie, if for no other reason than to be reminded of the people who help us sleep soundly at night, and the sacrifices they’ve made.
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