Backdraft

3.5/4

Starring: Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert DeNiro, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Glenn, Rebecca DeMornay

Rated R for Language and a Scene of Sensuality

Of all the government social services jobs (police, paramedics and firefighters), firefighting is arguably the least covered in movies.  Although the potential for special effects is limitless, the plots aren’t: Man aims hose, man pours water on fire, fire gone.  So here we have “Backdraft,” a firefighting movie that succeeds because it takes as much time to develop the characters as it does the special effects (which are pretty cool).

The McCaffrey brothers, Stephen (Russell) and Brian (Baldwin) have a tempestuous relationship.  Even though their father Dennis (Russell again) was killed in a fire (witnessed by Brian), Stephen has taken up the job.  Brian attempted, but washed out in firefighting school.  After floating around for six years, changing jobs like clockwork, he’s trying firefighting again, and this time he’s determined to do it.  Stephen conspires to have him work at his station, and pushes him to the limit and criticizes him relentlessly.  But there is more at stake than them getting at each others’ throats.  An arsonist is on a killing spree, setting deadly firetraps on the unsuspecting victims.  Brian, who becomes an assistant to a fire investigator (DeNiro), must find out how to stop the killer before he strikes again.

“Backdraft” is a good old-fashioned action hero movie.  It contains all of the clichés, but it came before all the imitators so they don’t feel like clichés.  You know what I mean, the dramatic slo-mo shots, the group camaraderie, the fracturous but loving brother relationship.  It’s all here.  But Ron Howard and his cast don’t go through the motions.  They play it out with honesty and integrity, and that’s what makes this movie work.

Kurt Russell is mostly known as an action star, but when it comes to drama, it turns out that he can do some really good work.  Stephen is a likable, but stubborn (there’s a reason why his nickname is “Bull”) guy.  He sees everything in black and white, even when it’s not.  Although he espouses the “tough love” approach when it comes to his brother, he does love him.  He also keeps his emotions bottled up inside of him, and not for the better.  As Brian, William Baldwin is effective as the everyman, and he can hold his own against Russell.  He’s a guy we can follow to the end.  The supporting cast is top-heavy with talent.  Robert DeNiro is nice to see in what is probably the most “average guy” role he has ever taken.  Donald Sutherland is at his creepy best, and the other scary lady in the cast, Jennifer Jason Leigh, successfully made me forget that she played Hedy Carlson in “Single White Female” within the first minute of her screen time.  Scott Glenn and J.T. Walsh are at their reliable best as a fellow firefighter and a sleazy alderman.  And when did Rebecca DeMornay learn how to act?

Forgive me, but I must return to the relationship between Steven and Brian.  This is so carefully developed and well acted by Russell and Baldwin that it singlehandedly takes the film to the next level.  Without it, "Backdraft" would be a servicable action movie.  Still worth seeing, I think.  But anyone who has an older (or younger) brother will see themselves and their sibling in Russell and Baldwin.  Their chemistry is so natural and their performances are so on target that their relationship, rather than the plot or the special effects, is the beating heart of the film.

Ron Howard breathes life into a screenplay that could have been turned into a generic action movie.  But with attention to detail and some nice visuals, he has created a real winner.