Review: Ladder 49
This is an earnest film that tries so hard to be important that it forgets the audience. It also steps carefully to avoid following the tracks of Backdraft. Perhaps too carefully.
The primary drawback is that the protagonist (Joaquin Phoenix) pursues no goal, and therefore is never opposed by a viable antagonist. In this case, a likely candidate for antagonist would have been fire itself but fire has been reduced to a supporting role, going about it's job as the firefighters do theirs.
Which is all too bad, since this movie has a level of authenticity you can sense even when you lack first-hand knowledge of fighting fires. Not a lot of physics-defying leaps or running through thousand-degree infernos.
John Travolta puts forth his typical charismatic performance, this time in a restrained fashion. Does he ever play a follower?
This is a film that could have been terrific but the story is just a series of events rather than a journey for the protagonist.