Ladder 49 Reviews

Honestly, before watching this, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it was starring John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix, I thought I should give it a try. Eventually, it ended up being the best movie about the subject I have ever seen. I mean, it is not like any I have seen 1000's movies about firefighters and it doesn't mean it is a masterpiece but I thought the whole thing was pretty entertaining but still rather realistic. John Travolta gave, as usual, a decent performance and Joaquin Phoenix was just impressive (thank God he dropped the whole retirement-I-wanna-be-a-rapper thing!). I know it is not a really popular flick but I think it is actually rather underrated. Of course, the story is nothing mind-blowing whatsoever and it is actually rather predictable but they managed to make me care about these characters and what was happening to them. Eventually, even though it is not a masterpiece, it remains a well made and entertaining flick and, in my opinion, it is definitely worth a look.

I always felt like this film was a cheap Hollywood exploitation of the firefighter following the 9/11 tragedy. It drew big numbers at the box office from sympathetic viewers but ultimately, the film was just ok.