'Ladder 49' takes advantage of post-9/11 sympathies to make a five-hanky tribute

Everybody loves firefighters, and even before they became the national heroes of 9/11, Hollywood movies about the profession -- from 1903's "Life of an American Fireman" to 1974's "Towering Inferno" to 1991's "Backdraft" -- were invariably valentines.

MOVIE REVIEW

LADDER 49

DIRECTOR: Jay Russell

CAST: Joaquin Phoenix, John Travolta, Jacinda Barrett

RUNNING TIME: 115 minutes

RATING: PG-13 for intense fire and rescue situations, and for language

WHERE: Bella Bottega 11, Cinema 17, Crossroads 8, Everett 9, Factoria, Galaxy Tacoma 6, Galleria 11, Gateway 8, Grand Cinemas, Issaquah 9, Kirkland Parkplace 6, Longston Place 14, Majestic Bay, Marysville Cinema 14, Meridian 16, Metro, Monroe 12, Mountlake 9, Oak Tree, Parkway Plaza 12, Renton Village, Woodinville 12

GRADE: B

But it's possible that no profession in history has ever had a more teary tribute than America's firefighters get in Hollywood's first post- 9/11 firefighting epic, "Ladder 49." Some will find it just a bit too thick to swallow, but most will gobble it up.

The movie opens on a spectacular blaze in a grain elevator, where, after heroically saving a man's life, Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix) finds himself trapped in the middle of the collapsed structure.

While his station chief and mentor (John Travolta) leads Jackie's buddies in a Herculean campaign to rescue him, the movie flashes back in a succession of episodes that trace his career from the day he first entered the station as a green rookie.

These episodes include a lot of roughshod male bonding, the death and maiming of several of his closest pals, his romance and marriage to his silently fearful but supportive wife (Jacinda Barrett) and several personal and professional crises that ultimately define him.

The movie may be, if not slightly dishonest, at least misleading because it conveys the notion that firefighting is the single most dangerous trade on the planet, with a mortality rate higher than Marine lieutenants on Iwo Jima. (Which, I'm told, is statistically not the case at all.)

It also never quite clicks as the male buddy drama it wants to be, mainly due to Travolta. Stepping back from starring roles, he's trying hard to re-establish himself as a character lead, but he really doesn't have the stuff of a Gene Hackman or Robert Duvall. Not yet anyway.

On the other hand, the movie works surprisingly well as a domestic drama, thanks to ex-Aussie model Barrett ("The Human Stain"), who is so captivating she steals the movie from the male stars and is completely convincing as a woman aging through 10 not-always-easy years of marriage.

For the most part, director Jay Russell ("My Dog Skip") also maintains an agreeable balance between two pulls of Lewis Colick's script. In its best moments, the film works as both an exciting and formula-breaking action-adventure and as an enjoyably sappy tearjerker.

P-I movie critic William Arnold can be reached at 206-448-8185 or williamarnold@seattlepi.com.