Ladder 49 Review
From the blue-collar heroism of its title onward, Ladder 49 honors the quintessential experience of the American firefighter. Never mind that it focuses on a blazing Baltimore factory, rather than the World Trade Center -- the film is a pretty transparent eulogy for the public servants who left behind loving families on September 11, 2001. To make Joaquin_Phoenix's Jack Morrison even more of an archetype, Irish flute music provides the soundtrack for some of the defining moments of his life, because firefighters -- at least those created in Hollywood -- are disproportionately Irish. But just because the film has some overtones of Bush White House propaganda doesn't mean it's not truthful, and at times, funny and touching. Phoenix' broken-nose good looks have always made him an effective everyman. He perfectly embodies the universality of screenwriter Lewis_Colick's protagonist, a charming good old boy who wins a pretty wife and produces two darling children. That this idyllic life is so vulnerable is probably a belabored point in Jay_W._Russell's film, as several beloved firehouse jokesters are forced to pay a dear price in the line of duty. Ladder 49 is also a little lazy in its plotting, amounting to little more than a highlight reel from Jack's life, recalled as he lies in that burning building. Because of this structure, the outcome of the film's primary conflict -- whether Jack should go on saving lives or retire to a desk job to protect his family -- is already known. But maybe that's the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from Ladder 49's agenda: for the brave firefighters who died on 9/11, there never was a choice. Derek Armstrong, Rovi
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