Ladder 49 and Christian Themes

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Robert Patrick is Lenny Richter, the “venerable veteran.” I think he actually gets most of the swear words in the movie. (There aren’t that many, considering.)

Interesting; I’ve read several interviews where he mentions his foul mouth (in real life), and denigrates himself for it. (In one interview, he said he’s trying to stop swearing because of his kids.)

Lenny Richter is not a big part, but they considered the character important enough (or maybe the actor important enough?) to make him into one of the Ladder 49 plastic figures (dolls). There are two Captain dolls (Travolta’s character), one Jack Morrison doll (Phoenix), and one Lenny Richter doll. It’s on my Christmas list several times–I’ve told each family member to buy me one!
 
My husband went to see it yesterday and he thought it was very good he said its easy to put yourself in the position of what it must be like to be a fireman and it makes you far more appreciate what firemen do for us and the risks they take.
I guess thats what he got out of it not who was the star etc. but he was able to walk away with a feeling of great appreciation for the people who battle fire to save our lives and how difficult that must be for their families.
 
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lizziebeth730:
I see no movies starring anyone involved with Scientology.

I don’t want to put money in their pockets, you think Pro-choice people are bad…do some research on Scientology…

It’s unfortunate that my movie star boyfriend ( Joaquin Phoenix) is in it, because I just want to make out with him… alas, it’s the one movie of his I won’t be seeing. He usually makes really good choices for films ( Quills, Gladiator, etc…)
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Uhhhhh… I detect a little moral contradiction, lizzie. :ehh: At the same time that you reject a movie based on a actors belief system -… You openly admit you want to make out with the other actor. Puh-leeeze. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the review Cat. I don’t go to movies much anymore, but that one sounds good.
 
I enjoyed the movie and I too came away with a deeper appreciation for the firefighters who risk their lives for us. It had excitement, humor, sentimentalism…and Catholism. 👍

:blessyou:
Annie
 
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ridesawhitehors:
Uhhhhh… I detect a little moral contradiction, lizzie. :ehh: At the same time that you reject a movie based on a actors belief system -… You openly admit you want to make out with the other actor. Puh-leeeze. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the review Cat. I don’t go to movies much anymore, but that one sounds good.
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That’s just what my friends and I say when we think someone is cute. Like Derek Jeter is sooooo not someone I want to make out with. Whereas, John Mayer is very kissable.

It’s simply a litmus test for attractiveness.

I’d actually prefer a conversation before the kissing.
 
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Cat: Thanks for the review…I have yet to see the film, but now I’m definitely interested.
Lizziebeth730: You are entitled to your opinion…I will not watch movies w/Jane Fonda in any role in them. (I’m a VietNam veteran)
Peace to all…
 
Navigator,
Did you hear that Jane Fonda became a Christian?

It was a couple of years ago. The reports were all over Protestant boards and other media. (At that time, I was still Protestant.)

Did that topic make it into Catholic circles?

I don’t know what ever became of the conversion; haven’t seen any reports for a while.

Anyway, hope you like Ladder 49!
 
I took my parents and my hubby to see this movie, because I was a volunteer firefighter and my Dad and brother still are…

I managed not to cry through it, but it was very touching and heartbreaking, but funny too…

I felt it was a very good movie, I plan to buy it on DVD when it comes out.

Jamie
 
For those you don’t want to pay, you can wait until it comes on video or borrow it from the library.
 
This movie was BRILLIANT! Devastating but brilliant. Plot was wonderfully done and Joaquin Phoenix deserves an Oscar for his acting; such a believable character, as when he comes out of the front door, exhilarated after putting out his first fire or when he meets the girl in the grocery store…and on and on.

After the movie, people in the theater were very quiet and the guys seemed to be pulling their women closer to them as they walked out, but it could just be my female imagination.

I was so glad this wasn’t a re-enactment of 9/11 for the sake of movie-making. It was its own story and yet it did honor those men who died and served in those tragedies of 2001. It put a person to the face of every fire-fighter. I don’t buy many movies but this is top of my list.
 
OK, I’ve waited two weeks and a weekend, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet and plan to, DON’T read anymore of this post! It contains SPOILERS!

What did everyone think of the BAPTISM symbolism in the movie?

Maybe you didn’t think anything of it, but remember, I am a convert to Catholicism from evangelical Protestantism. Although I accepted Catholic teaching about baptism when I was confirmed and gave intellectual consent to it, seeing Ladder 49 made it all so clear to me, so very clear that THIS WAS THE PART OF THE MOVIE THAT MADE ME CRY!

This movie did what all the RCIA classes and Scott Hahn and Tim Staples books and Catholic Answers threads and my husband and even my own personal search of the Bible couldn’t do–it made me finally understand God’s purpose in Baptism.

If you’ll recall, they show Jack’s baby being baptized (to wash away original sin and admit the child into the Family of Christ, right? We all know that, but it’s hard for Protestants to accept.)

THEN the movie cuts to water dripping on Jack’s head, and he wakes up and starts trying to save himself.

And then I realized with a big JOLT that the whole concept of water putting out fire–all those magnificent shots of fire hoses sweeping across the fires–all those shots in the movie made me realize that WATER SAVES PEOPLE FROM FIRE, just like Baptism saves people from the fires of hell.

It’s not a symbol at all.

If the firefighters showed up at your burning house and symbolically sprayed down your house and then left, saying, “It’s just a symbol,” your house wouldn’t be saved.

The water is really needed. It really does something!

All this is in the BIBLE!

And now I understand it! I really, truly internalized it while I was watching Ladder 49. I get it now! It makes sense!

And I believe with all my heart that the director (Jay Russell) planned it that way. The connection was just so good, the theology was all there.

ALSO–did you all get the wonderful symbolism of the firefighter crawling through the smoke on Christmas Eve trying to find the child? Kind of like the wise men travelling to find…someone, something that they didn’t understand and wasn’t sure if it was real or just a rumor. Kind of like all of us trying to find Jesus, but often feeling like we are crawling in the dark.

There was even the neat symbolism of knocking over the Christmas tree. Long ago I heard a Catholic priest speak about how Christmas is a holiday for us to hold Jesus close and forget for one night about the cross and the horrible death He would one day suffer for us. Christmas is a time to hold a baby and rejoice. And that’s just what Ladder 49 showed–forget the “tree” (Calvary)–just find the child and hold the child close. And of course there is the fact that the “tree” (Calvary)–death–is destroyed by Christ’s resurrection.

So much theology in one little movie!
 
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