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www.nypost.com - : New York Post - ''Ladder 49'' — essentially an enervating slog through the life of one-dimensional young firefighter Jack Morrison (a stolid Joaquin Phoenix), told in flashback as he lies trapped in a burning building — has less drama than an average episode of ''This Is Your Life.'' more...
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C-
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seattlepi.nwsource.com - : Seattle Post-Intelligencer - 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, more...
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B
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www.boston.com - : Boston Globe - Ladder 49, initially looks as if it's going to be a lot more pious than it turns out to be, although the sap still rises whenever William Ross's glutinous score, the single worst element of the film, turns up the volume. These characters are meant to be simple (and they're effectively played as such by the cast), but often enough that devolves into the simplistic. more...
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B-
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rogerebert.suntimes.com - : Chicago Sun-Times - The movie is not about a dying man whose life passes before his eyes, but about a man who saved a life and put himself in danger, and how he got to that place in his life, and what his life and family mean to him. Because it is attentive to these human elements, ''Ladder 49'' draws from the action scenes instead of depending on them. Phoenix, Travolta, Barrett and the others are given characters with dimension, so that what happens depends on their decisions, not on the plot. more...
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A-
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Critic Reviews
