Ladder 49

Later Review

After giving it careful consideration, I cannot come up with any good explanation for this movie having been made. It is not exactly a bad film (in fact, technically it's rather adept, especially the fire scenes), but there is not a single thing about it that is new, innovative, original, provocative, or particularly interesting. Granted, firemen are brave and do terrific things, but it takes more than that notion to sustain a movie. Joaquim Phoenix (whose appeal, frankly, escapes me) stars as Jack Morrison, the new recruit who learns the moves from his stoic, saintly captain (John Travolta, who pretty much mailed this one in). We see Jack's story in a series of flashbacks, as he lies injured at the bottom of a burning building. But it's all pretty pro forma stuff. Unlike firemen, the movie is utterly dispensable.