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Written by Lewis Colick; directed by Jay Russell; starring Joaquin Phoenix and John Travolta. Released to DVD on March 8, 2005.  Ladder 49 sets some kind of record for formula. Not only does a character exclaim that he’s "getting too old for this shit" within the film’s first four minutes (yes, you read that correctly, in the first four minutes), but in his next sentence that same character goes on to complain, like Billy Crystal did in 1986’s Running Scared, that nothing ever takes place on a building’s first floor. It’s a funny joke, true, but not necessarily the fourth time you’ve seen it on-screen. Written by Lewis Colick, the man who graced unexpecting audiences with bombs like Judgment Night, Bulletproof and Domestic Disturbance, Ladder 49 is a perfect example of a terrible script that seems to have been quickly pushed into production in order to capitalize on America’s current respect and love for firemen. Joaquin Phoenix stars here as Jack Morrison, a Catholic fireman who works hard, plays hard and is loyal to a fault to his station brothers. One of the most grave errors of this project comes with how very little of a plot there is in Ladder 49. Much like Kevin Costner’s For Love of the Game, the grand majority of this tale is told in a set of jerky, rather mind-numbing flashbacks of Morrison’s that all seem to illustrate that firemen are unsung heroes–warriors really–who risk their lives battling their flaming nemesis on a daily basis. Ladder 49 opens with a spectacular scene involving a twenty story building that is engulfed in fire. Much of the fire work in Ladder 49 is practical and the images look very, very real. So real, in fact, that while shooting this night scene in Baltimore, the 911 emergency center was so overwhelmed with calls about the building being on fire the film’s producers had to call local radio stations in order to assure the public that everything was under control. However, while fancy images and sharp stunt work can imbue a good script with atmosphere and style, they do absolutely nothing to endear audiences to the characters on-screen. Shooting big set pieces requires a far greater amount of effort and precision from a project’s cast and crew than in any other circumstances, especially on those movies that are also filmed on location that deal with fire (or water). In and of itself, the technical aspects surrounding Ladder 49 are excellent. A lot of smart people had to work long hours to precisely plan and competently execute the big set pieces. Unfortunately, these sequences are inhabited by characters that are so shallow and empty that it actually becomes an exercise to care about them.  During one flashback, Morrison and his firefighting brethren are walking on the top of a burning brownstone, tapping the roof with their axes to learn precisely where the fire is doing its damage inside. The firemen approach this task with surprisingly little concern or care, peppering their axe tapping with petty bickering amongst themselves. Suddenly, there is a cracking sound and one firefighter falls through the now crumbling roof to his demise. Director Jay Russell intends the scene to play out somberly (and lets William Ross’ score crescendo with intenseful purpose) but the previous lack of character development and downright nonchalant attitude of those firemen on the roof counteracts any connection that the audience might have with the fallen fireman and the effect his death has on his stationmates. With Tuck Everlasting and My Dog Skip to his name, Russell has never been accused of being a particularly nuanced director–Russell tends to throw copious amounts of melodrama at the audience, in hopes that some of it will stick and then be mistaken for above-average movie-making–and he cements this reputation here in Ladder 49. The structure of this film is so severely flawed that the project never really had a chance. | |||||
