| I only mention Backdraft because the reason I never saw Ladder 49 in the theater was because Backdraft was one of those movies that I absolutely loved as a kid and I didn't think, that there was anything that a firefighting movie could do beyond that. If you think about it, there are not a lot of plot structures that are conducive to a firefighting film. Firefighting movies are essentially about the firefighters and the dangers that they face at work every day, but this one focuses more than usual on the family element. Backdraft was about firefighters losing family members in fires more <more> than anything else, Ladder 49 is more about the people at home. Kind of like We Were Soldiers.The thing that I appreciated the most about the movie was the way it was structured. Jack Morrison walks into a burning building with the rest of his team at the beginning of the movie, and then it cuts back and forth between that fire and the more than a decade that passed between when he joined the firehouse and when he walked into that building. It builds up the story and the tension and our knowledge of the characters in a way that stretches his involvement in that fire out so that we can learn about him and his family while he is fighting that one fire. It's hard to explain more without spoiling anything.Joaquin Phoenix, who I am so used to seeing play pretty unenviable roles, or at least playing characters that don't have the best luck see To Die For, 8MM, Gladiator, Clay Pigeons and, probably most of all, Return to Paradise , plays something a little different here. I enjoyed seeing him play such a contented character in this movie, even though he's very good at playing dirtbags and losers. He was happy with his work and he found a wonderful wife and they had a wonderful family, and the initial conflict arose from his wife, who was understandably upset at the very high chance that he could be killed at work. The guy is just a tremendous actor.But the biggest difference that it has from Backdraft is that it is not an action film, it's a drama. It's not about heroes rushing into towering infernos and pulling out helpless children and pets or mannequins, as it were , it's about what it is about firemen that makes them want to do what they do. I can't tell you how many times during the movie when I thought about how easy it would have been to change jobs had it been me in Jack Morrison's shoes, but I guess that means I don't have the same drive that these firemen have. I like to think that I have heart and am a good person, I guess I just would have put my family first in such a situation.But there are men and women that are so dedicated to helping other people and saving lives that they will put themselves and their families second, and those are the real heroes that this movie is meant to recognize. The characters in the movie are not standard movie firemen or action heroes, they are real people with real thoughts who make real decisions that affect the progress of the plot more than the progress of the plot affects them.Consider the character played by Robert Patrick. There is a point in the movie where you are sure he is going to be the one hardass fireman that gets in the way of Jack Morrison, the hero, and he does. But at that point he can either stay a hero and slink away defeated at the end or he can realize what a great man Jack is and come to his side at the end.Well, what actually happens is certainly more one than the other, but it happens in such a way that presents his character as a person, not a movie villain or even a movie character, and that's true of everyone in the film. They are all people, not characters, and that's what makes this movie real. <less> |
