Why is ladder 49 sad

As his Hollywood star grows ever bigger and his roles increase in size, I don't find the quality of his performances growing with them. If anything, it's the opposite. After seeing The Village last year, I thought he had hit a new low, but sadly, his performance in Ladder 49 was even worse.

Even though John Travolta is featured prominently in most of the poster and TV ads for the movie, the vast majority of it focuses on Jack Morrison played by Joaquin Phoenix.

Set in present-day Baltimore, Maryland, the movie starts out with Jack trying to rescue a victim from a burning building, when the floor collapses under him and he falls into the building. The rest of the movie consists of flashbacks of Jack's life throughout the past 10 years, interspersed with some scenes in the present time where Jack's colleagues are trying to find him and get him out of the building.

At first, I liked the idea of doing flashbacks because it could help the audience really learn who the characters are. The problem is that director Jay Russell does a lousy job of tying those scenes into the overall story. It seemed like most of the flashback scenes were meant to emphasize the bond between the firefighters rather than develop characters, but even those scenes weren't done very well.

How many scenes do we need to see with the firefighters getting drunk in a pub or playing pranks on each other? Okay, they're bestest buddy pals; we get it. It's hard to believe this movie was written by Lewis Colick, the same guy who wrote the screenplay for the excellent October Sky.

Okay, quick show of hands. How many people met their significant other in a grocery store? Oh, not so unusual? Well, what if I told you that Jack and Dennis lied to Linda and her friend about their ranks in the fire department? Call me crazy, but if I were trying to meet a complete stranger in a grocery store and she caught me in even a small lie, I would think a restraining order would be more realistic than a romantic dinner.

But in the very next scene, Jack and Linda are having a romantic dinner. Michelle M. January 23, Jeremy C. January 22, Cem "Regi" "Pixelmannen". January 21, Tiffiny V. January 18, Lauren B. January 15, John B.

January 12, Reverand Lord Horse o. Stacey Louise E. January 11, Kayvon P. Jon D. We see them in action before we really meet them. A warehouse is on fire, and people are trapped on the 12th floor. There's grain dust in the building that could explode at any moment. 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.

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. The grain dust blows. Jack falls through a hole in the center of the building and lands a few floors below, stunned, half-buried by debris. Eventually he regains consciousness, and is able to radio Travolta, who coordinates the rescue effort. It is clear that there's a limited window of opportunity to save Jack before the building kills him.

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. 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.

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. Yes, he's the victim of practical jokes. Yes, he does a lot of after-hours drinking with his firehouse buddies, chugging beer competitively. Yes, he and a buddy pick up two girls in the supermarket, and the one named Linda Jacinda Barrett becomes his wife.

And they have kids. And some of his friends have bad things happen to them during fires. And he volunteers for search and rescue.

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. As I list these scenes, you may think you can guess what they contain and how they play, but you would be wrong. 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.

The marriage of Jack and Linda is not a movie marriage, but a convincing one with troubles and problems and love that endures. 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. She is Jack's partner in their family, and a source of his pride and courage at work.