 December
2004
This month's review:
Do we have enough heroes today? Do we have enough movies that
show them? Many if not most of us would answer yes to the first
question and no to the second. Fortunately, two recent movies make
the treatment of heroes their strong suit.
Ladder 49
One is Ladder 49, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as
firefighter Jack Morrison and John Travolta as Captain Mike Kennedy,
his boss. Ladder opens with scenes showing a now-older
Jack trapped in a burning building and his fellow firefighters
trying to rescue him. It’s not clear at all whether Jack will make
it out of the building alive. The film proceeds mostly in flashbacks
that show how Jack got to be a firefighter and recount his personal
life.
Plusses: Jack and his firefighting buddies are good men
who are committed to saving lives and self-sacrifice. They are
basically moral types who are strong family men and put others
before themselves. The film is quite exciting, at least in spots,
and we can greatly admire both Jack and Mike, his breezy boss. The
movie has a Roman Catholic backdrop with scenes of church services
and prayers. The acting is strong enough, particularly that of
Joaquin Phoenix.
Minuses: As is often the case these days, language. It’s
not totally atrocious, but there are instances of the Lord’s name
being taken in vain and a number of four-letter words. There’s also
a brief scene showing Jack and his fiancé in bed together—before
they get married, which they do a few scenes afterwards. This is a
worldly viewpoint typical of the majority of movies today.
Overall: A New York Times reviewer had this to say
about Ladder 49: “This is essentially a male weepie
about strong, simple men and the strong, simple women behind them,
and as such it’s platitudinous rubbish.” Don’t be swayed by this
comment, not for a minute. While I greatly admire the quality of the
writing in the New York Times, I usually dis-admire its
political and social views. If the New York Times is against
it, that could be a recommendation.
Sky Captain and the
World of Tomorrow
The second hero movie is Sky Captain and the World of
Tomorrow. This one is hard to figure out. It’s a sci-fi
fantasy set in the late thirties—sort of a combination of Indiana
Jones and Star Wars. Sky Captain stars Jude
Law as Joe Sullivan, the Sky Captain; and Gwyneth Paltrow as Polly
Perkins, a Lois-Lane-type of newspaper reporter. The plot, insofar
as I was able to figure one out, is about a mad scientist named Dr.
Totenkopf (“Deadhead”) who is looking for some secret vials which
are somehow connected to the fact that famous world scientists are
dying right and left. Newspaper reporter Perkins is determined to
find out what’s happening, and in her travels she soon runs into her
old flame Joe Sullivan.
Plusses: This is a beautiful movie. The sets are all
computer-generated but look real enough. The color, such as it is,
is muted, so the result is in effect a color movie in black and
white. Watching Sky Captain is a little like going to
an art museum. Another plus is its heroism values. Star Jude Law,
who strongly wanted to play the Sky Captain role, said, “I just
thought it was about time someone took us back to a science-fiction
genre that’s without cynicism, that’s more innocent and optimistic.”
Sullivan and his sidekick Dex, like the firefighters in Ladder 49,
think of others before themselves and are willing to make
sacrifices. A third plus is some interesting commentary about how we
have become poor stewards of God’s world.
Minuses: Is this movie really about anything? The
Indiana Jones movies were about the pursuit of the Ark of the
Covenant and the Holy Grail, but Sky Captain isn’t
powered by anything very significant. Also, Joe and Polly are not
exactly what could be considered good role models in their
relationship. The movie has some potentially worthy themes that
aren’t totally well enough developed.
Overall: This is one of the most gorgeous movies in a long
time, so it’s well worth seeing on that score.
Ratings:
2 ½ stars for Sky Captain;
2 ¾ stars for Ladder.
Of the two, Ladder is the more meaningful.
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Index of movie
reviews...
(2003 reviews through present)
Jay Maurer, a member of West Side Presbyterian Church, is
a long-term movie buff and former college teacher of The Film as
Literature. He has written movie reviews for The Good News
(West Side newsletter) since 2002.
If you have comments or questions
about the movie (or play) reviews, please contact Jay at
dramachap@msn.com.
Ratings are expressed in
increments of ¼ star.
A rating of 2 ½ stars or higher is meant to be a recommendation.
1 star: poor
2 stars: minimally satisfactory
3 stars: quite good
4 stars: superb
Criteria for determining the ratings:
- Reflection, either explicit or implicit, of Christian values,
including suitability of language and lack of gratuitous violence
- Quality of the acting
- Originality
- Unity of the entire picture
- Substance, or in the words of C.S. Lewis, weight
Other Christian movie review Web sites:
Plugged In Online
ChristianityTodayMovies.com
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