Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writers (WGA):

Joe Connelly (novel)
Paul Schrader (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 October 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

An Easter story. Frank is a Manhattan medic, working graveyard in a two-man ambulance team. He's burned out...

Plot Keywords:

Hell | Ghost | Paramedic | Rescue | Ambulance

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Nicolas Cage	...	Frank Pierce
Patricia Arquette	...	Mary Burke
John Goodman	...	Larry
Ving Rhames	...	Marcus
Tom Sizemore	...	Tom Wolls
Marc Anthony	...	Noel
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Nurse Constance
Cliff Curtis	...	Cy Coates
Nestor Serrano	...	Dr. Hazmat
Aida Turturro	...	Nurse Crupp
Sonja Sohn	...	Kanita
Cynthia Roman	...	Rose
Afemo Omilami	...	Griss
Cullen O. Johnson	...	Mr. Burke (as Cullen Oliver Johnson)
Arthur J. Nascarella	...	Captain Barney (as Arthur Nascarella)

MPAA:

Rated R for gritty violent content, drug use and language.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:18 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #36706)

Filming Locations:

11th Avenue & 54th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Alianza Films International

Trivia:

This is the last movie to have been released on LaserDisc in the United States.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Marcus is talking on the radio, he has the microphone "keyed" so that he can transmit. The female dispatcher can be heard talking back to him while he still has the button depressed. This is impossible, since you can transmit or receive, but not at the same time, on this type of system.

Quotes:

Marcus: I'm a true cocksman. I don't mix my seed. The only time I touch a white woman is when I'm holding her down for the police.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Anus Magillicutty (2003)

Soundtrack:

Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am A Japanese Sandman)

Surreal, strange, special and very, very good

This surreal portrayal of a stressed-out depressed, alcoholic and generally weird paramedic is a movie you cannot watch just like that. I recommend watching it late at night, but not too tired, since you have to be quite alert to catch everything that's going on.

The basic plot is about an ambulance driver(Nicolas Cage can act!) who hasn't saved anyone for months and begins to doubt he can save anyone anymore. He drinks booze and coffee and the result is a great mess. This is not a "beginning to the end" kind of movie. When the movie ends, nothing is really solved.

The acting is pretty much flawless. Nicolas Cage does his best performance to date, and his paramedic buddies and the people he encounters are all very well portrayed. John Goodman is a fat, sweaty but somewhat likable paramedic, Tom Sizemore(!) is a psychotic ambulance driver who has his very own view of the job, Ving Rhames is a delivered Christian who takes the job as an opportunity to save souls, Mark Anthony is an interesting street weirdo, and Patricia Arquette is a weary woman who loses her father.

The imagery is very good too. New York whizzes past, full of lights and darkness. It's gritty, it's moody and it's surreal.

If you can stand a little unorthodox cinema then you'll like Bringing Out the Dead. But be sure to be in the mood, or the experience will be very different.

Oh, and I salute all the paramedics and other health care heroes out there. If your job is anywhere near this movies, you're the greatest.