Because it is attentive to these human elements, "Ladder 49" draws from the action scenes instead of depending on them.
#Cast of movie ladder 49 movie
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. Kennedy asks if he can get to a brick wall, knock a hole in it, and crawl through it to a room they think they can reach. He gives them clues based on what he can see. Diagrams are used to figure out where he must be inside the building. The effort to rescue Jack is desperate but skilled. Russell allows small details to accumulate into the subtle but crucial fact that the camaraderie of the firehouse is what motivates these men above all. Soldiers in battle, it is said, fight not so much for the flag or for a cause as for their buddies, to not let them down. There is the sense that the men of Ladder 49 go into danger and take risks largely out of loyalty to their comrades. Jack stays where he is, not because he is a fearless hero, but because it is his job, and he is faithful to it. And Jack's relationship with Chief Kennedy (Travolta) is complex, too, because Kennedy worries about him and is not at all sure he should allow him to volunteer for search and rescue.Īfter Jack has lost one friend and another has been badly burned, Kennedy offers him a transfer to a safe job downtown. She is Jack's partner in their family, and a source of his pride and courage at work. Linda is not one more of those tiresome wives in action movies, who appear only to complain that the hero should spend more time with his family. The marriage of Jack and Linda is not a movie marriage, but a convincing one with troubles and problems and love that endures. The director, Jay Russell, working from Lewis Colick's screenplay, brings a particular humanity to the scenes I am reminded of how his movie " My Dog Skip" transcended the basic elements of a boy and his dog. And Linda worries about him, and dreads the day a red fire chief's car may pull up in front of her house to deliver a man with dreadful news.Īs I list these scenes, you may think you can guess what they contain and how they play, but you would be wrong. And some of his friends have bad things happen to them during fires. Yes, he and a buddy pick up two girls in the supermarket, and the one named Linda ( Jacinda Barrett) becomes his wife. Yes, he does a lot of after-hours drinking with his firehouse buddies, chugging beer competitively. But as the movie explores Jack's life, it shows an attention and sensitivity that elevates the flashbacks from the usual biographical stops along the way. So far everything in "Ladder 49" has been basic and predictable, by the numbers, although the special effects and stunt work inside the burning building were convincing. The movie flashes back to Jack's first day as a rookie in the fire department, and we understand what the structure will be: His present danger will be intercut with the story of his life as a fireman. It is clear that there's a limited window of opportunity to save Jack before the building kills him. Eventually he regains consciousness, and is able to radio Travolta, who coordinates the rescue effort. Jack falls through a hole in the center of the building and lands a few floors below, stunned, half-buried by debris. I'll take care of you," he tells the guy, and lowers him out a window on a rope until firemen below can grab him, calm his panic and return him safe to earth. Jack and his team charge into the building, and Jack finds a survivor on the 12th floor - which is too high for the cherry-pickers or ladders to reach. There's grain dust in the building that could explode at any moment. A warehouse is on fire, and people are trapped on the 12th floor. Jack's life hangs by a thread-can his buddies save him in time, or will he succumb to the dangers of the blaze?ĭVD9 | PAL 16:9 | 01:50:23 | 7.We see them in action before we really meet them.
It's at this point in the story that the filmmakers flash back to Jack's beginnings as a firefighter, his eventual courting of and marriage to the lovely Linda (Jacinda Barrett), the birth of his son, and the deaths of some of his best friends at work.
When one of Jack's rescue operations goes horribly wrong, he ends up somewhere inside a burning building while his comrades attempt to get him out. When Jack arrives and is assigned by the fire chief, Mike Kennedy (John Travolta, Pulp Fiction), to the search and rescue unit, Jack discovers the pitfalls and perils of one of the most dangerous jobs on earth.
Ladder 49 follows newbie firefighter Jack Morrison's (Joaquin Phoenix, Gladiator, Signs) emotional and physical climb through the firefighting ranks.
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