Ladder 49

Released 2004
Stars Joaquin Phoenix, John Travolta, Jacinda Barrett, Morris Chestnut, Kevin Daniels, Robert Patrick, Balthazar Getty, Billy Burke
Directed by Jay Russell

The best compliment I can pay "Ladder 49" is to say that it left me feeling thoughtful and sad. I was surprised it had such an effect. I walked in expecting an action picture with heroic firemen charging into burning buildings for last-minute rescues. "Ladder 49" has the heroes and the fires and the rescues, but it's not really about them. It's about character, and about the kind of man who risks his life for a living. And it's about work, about what kind of a job it is to be a fireman.

The movie is not about a dying man whose life passes before his eyes, but about a man who saved a life and put himself in danger, and how he got to that place in his life, and what his life and family mean to him. Because it is attentive to these human elements, "Ladder 49" draws from the action scenes instead of depending on them. Phoenix, Travolta, Barrett and the others are given characters with dimension, so that what happens depends on their decisions, not on the plot. As I said, I was surprisingly affected by the film. After I left the screening, I walked a while by the river, and sat and thought, and was happy not to have anything that had to be done right away. 

Summary by Roger Ebert

"Ladder 49" is the antithesis of the Fx tv show "Rescue Me". While "Rescue Me" labors to be as nasty as possible, "Ladder 49" is like the clean cut, All American quarterback. It's a throwback to the '50s; back when you could make an earnest movie without feeling self-conscious. I like the fact that they had the desire to make a film like this. They wanted to showcase firemen as selfless heroes who do the job to save people, but the movie lacks drama. It was like several slice of life moments interspersed with a big fire scene, but they didn't really add up. That's a shame because the performances and fire scenes are very good, and it had its heart in the right place. I feel bad bagging on a movie that so earnestly wanted to pay tribute to people who deserve it, but it just wasn't very involving. --Bill Alward, May 10, 2005