The slow but steady career of firefighter Jack Morrison, the fictional character at the center of Ladder 49, mirrors that of Joaquin Phoenix the actor who plays him. ‘Slow but steady’ also describes this movie in which Phoenix, who’s especially good at portraying characters that have still waters running deep, gets a supreme example here. ‘You go into burning buildings when everyone’s running out’ Jack’s girlfriend-soon-to-be-wife Linda says to him incredulously at one point but the irony of that doesn’t occur to Jack or his fellow firefighters—they’re too busy trying to save lives.
But the irony occurs to the audience (as it’s supposed to) and throughout the rest of the movie I kept looking for clues to answer the unanswerable question why these guys risk their lives for total strangers. The movie attempts to examine that by presenting Morrison’s story, told via flashbacks as he lies injured and trapped inside a burning building as his Captain, Mike Kennedy (John Travolta), orders his men to try and rescue him. Jack’s story, however, is rather typical: he quickly bonds with his fellow firefighters, quietly becomes a hero, meets, dates and marries Linda, the girl of his dreams (Jacinda Barrett) and as their children grow up, they weather their share of problems and tragedies (friends are tragically killed in the line of duty, Linda becomes terrified that Jack is next, etc.).
The contrast of Morrison’s standard off-duty life (shown through scenes of domestic bliss and discord, drinking nights at the local tavern and family barbeques) with the adrenalin of heroics and flaming infernos (and they are terrifyingly dramatic and realistic) is part of the point, but when we finally arrive back at where we’ve begun with Jack the movie hasn’t seemed to delve very deep for answers. As to be expected from a movie about a profession with such macho heterosexual traditions, gays and lesbians are not part of the equation (though, surprisingly, the movie does include a rather up-to-the-moment joke about gay marriage). Couldn’t there have been one firefighter who secretly wanted a little bit of after-work male bonding with one of his cohorts, thereby adding some dramatic tension?
Ladder 49 has a workmanlike, cumulative power, shaded and authoritative performances by Phoenix and Travolta and is certainly an earnest effort. But perhaps seeing television documentaries and reading about the heroics of the firefighters involved in the 9/11 tragedy for the last three years has made the genuine supplant the fictional. The preview screening where I saw Ladder 49 was packed with real-life firefighters and toward the end of the film I thought, ‘Why are we watching a fictional movie about fictional firefighters when real heroes with real stories are sitting all around us?’ I wanted someone to shut off the projector and have each one get up and relate just one of their own stories. I’m obviously not alone—the Web site for the movie (www.ladder49.com) has a section where, Oprah-like, people can post accounts of their own ‘Everyday Heroes.’ I guarantee you that some of Our People are among these ‘Everyday Heroes,’ too—whether their fellow firemen (or women) know about their true sexuality or not.
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After the acclaim for her portrayal of the white trash real-life serial killer Aileen Wournos in Monster, Charlize Theron takes on the starring part in Head in the Clouds. As expected, the role of wealthy free spirit Gilda Bessé quickly offers her the opportunity to return to glamorous movie star mode and hopefully solidify her bid for stardom. It’s an old-fashioned star vehicle that Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth or Barbara Stanwyck would have fought for. This ‘sweeping epic’ without much of the epic, is set in Paris in the late ’30s and centers on the romantic triangle of Gilda, her bookish but hot between the sheets lover Guy (played by Theron’s real-life hottie, Stuart Townsend) and Gilda’s crippled but beautiful nurse in training, Mia (tiny Penélope Cruz).
Golden girl Gilda is ripe and sexy in and out of her shimmering gowns, refuses to be tied down or distracted by anything serious, and seems to live by the Auntie Mame ‘life is a banquet’ motto. Even when world events darken around her, we are led to believe, Gilda won’t stop dancing as fast as she can. These party-mad types usually wear out their welcome for me but Theron holds the attention with authority, dances a very sexy tango with Cruz and finally reverts to the no-makeup Monster look in the final reel. It’s sort of great to sit through such an old-fashioned picture again and Theron has certainly made a better choice for herself in her follow-up Oscar movie than either Halle Berry or Hilary Swank did. And the ghosts of Joan, Rita, and certainly Garbo (Mata Hari, anyone?) are not bad spirits to echo.
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Local Screenings:
Speaking of the great Barbara Stanwyck: both her role as the ultimate femme fatale in 1944’s Double Indemnity and the determined, controlling housewife in the hard-edged, lesser known Crime of Passion from 1957 are part of a Film Noir Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center that started Oct. 2 and goes through Nov. 1. www.siskelfilmcenter.com
Public Square, as part of the group’s ongoing commitment to public debate on current events, is hosting several free screenings of Spike Lee’s short film We Wuz Robbed and the full-length George W. Bush: Faith in the White House and after discussion forums at various locations around the city beginning Monday, Oct. 11. www.thepublicsquare.org
The Rocky Horror gang are heading to the suburbs (at the Hollywood Blvd. cinema in Woodridge to be exact) for October midnight screenings (natch) of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sal Piro, longtime RH emcee (he’s the guy in the movie Fame) hosts a special opening weekend extravaganza along with the Completely Crazy players. Kicks off this Friday, Oct. 8. www.atriptothemovies.com