Ladder 49

Firefighters are paid to be heroic. You didn't know that? Go see this movie then. You did? Then you don't have to, huh?

Because Ladder 49 is a movie that likes to repeatedly tell us something we already knew. But it does it with a whole lot of smoke, flames, acting and an orchestra that sounds like it's trying to violin its way out of a burning building.

It does do one remotely unpredictable thing - it tells its story in flashback after dedicated firefighter Jack Morrison finds himself trapped in a blazing, warehouse. As he waits for rescue he looks back at his life. Meanwhile we wonder: Will this Phoenix rise from the ashes?

The answer might surprise you. But this film is all noble intentions, zero insight, and a mildly cynical exercise in exploiting the American reverence for firefighters post-September 11.

The action is centred in Baltimore, which judging by this, is surely the most combustible city in the States.

Travolta is the stoic chief who mentors Phoenix' character from probationary firefighter to fully fledged rescue guy. Along the way, Morrison falls in love and starts a family with Linda (Barrett) and there's inevitable marital conflict over his career dangers. Unfortunately, that domestic strife manages to outdo most of the actual fires for reality or tension.

CAST: John Travolta, Joaquin Phoenix, Jacinda Barrett
DIRECTOR: Jay Russell
RATING: M (adult themes)
RUNNING TIME: 115 mins
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas