What type of man runs into a burning building when everyone else is running out? And in light of 9/11, with the image of the Twin Towers collapsing on the brave firemen who did just that, how can you tell a heroic tale without looking like you're exploiting its heroes? Ladder 49 meets this challenge in the best film on the subject yet.
Joaquin Phoenix is Jack Morrison, a Baltimore fireman who risks his life one night to rescue a civilian from a burning building that looks like an upended concrete coffin. Jack daringly saves the man, but falls through a collapsed floor in the effort, plummeting several floors. Flat on his back and semi-conscious, fire consuming every escape route around him, he awaits rescue. In his dazed state, Jack reflects on the choices that brought him to this point. And in bittersweet flashbacks, we are told the story of his life.
For such a big subject, and with so many thrilling scenes of fire that top Backdraft by a mile, the film's theme is simple. And Jack's part in the company of the men of Ladder 49 is elegiacally told. There is his first day on the job as a rookie when he meets "the cap" (John Travolta) and those in the firehouse who will become his family. There is the moment he first spots his wife-to-be (Jacinda Barret) in a supermarket while he and his best friend (Billy Burke) buy food for the firehouse. His buddies (especially good is Robert Patrick as "Lenny") are at times a juvenile bunch, real men who take the pressure off with practical jokes (including the playful grilling of rookies), and who bond over the shared experience of kids's birthday parties, weddings and funerals. But when the alarm sounds, everything is dropped. The focus is saving lives -- and sticking together.
It's the details that stand out in this film. Culled from months of research living with and studying the lives of real firemen to get it right, director Jay Russell and his cast absorbed it all: the stream of rats that pours down from the top floor where a fire rages that Jack must push past on his first day manning the hose; the horrific damage done to "Tommy" (Morris Chestnut) when he is blasted by scalding hot steam during a routine check of an abandoned factory, and the moments with Jack's family when he gives reassurance and re-commitment. And when a fellow fireman dies, as Jack's best friend does, because of an act of carelessness, we realize why these heroes are so quiet about their service, and so quietly respectful of the job they do every day.
Joaquin Phoenix best known for Gladiator and summer's disappointing The Village, gives us an understated yet powerful take on Jack. Strong and uncomplicated, the type of man we innately trust. And as his captain, Travolta lends the authority of his years to a role that requires a seasoned pro we automatically respect. Though they avoid direct reference to 9/11, the filmmakers and its stars were clearly conscious of it. As we watch Jack in his desperate hour, we wonder what was going on in the minds of those trapped in the World Trade Center when the walls began to shudder and give way. "I save lives," Jack tells his worried son one night. "And that's worth the risk, isn't it?" If Ladder 49 is any indication, the answer is yes. Where's the fire? It's in the burning desire of those who undertake this thankless profession to lead a simple life, rich in service to others.
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