Bringing Out the Dead

Ridiculously Underrated Movie Deserves Second Look on DVD
Bringing Out the Dead is one of Martin Scorsese's better movies. It is not quite up to the level of Mean Streets, Goodfellas, or Raging Bull; but is is better than most of his other works. Personally, I liked it more than Taxi Driver, the movie to which it is most often compared, but it may be too early to tell which is truly the better film. Nicholas Cage gives the best performance of his career, and the other actors are perfect for their roles. My favorites were Tom Sizemore, Cliff Curtis, Mary Beth Hurt and Ving Rhames. The screenplay is much better than it got credit for being, and is thought provoking, darkly hilarious, and maybe even profound. As expected, the cinematography and film editing are astounding, and the soundtrack is amazing. No other director could have handled this material as well as Martin Scorsese. So many other directors would have made it into some kind of tearjerker, but he takes a huge risk by making it funny (this risk didn't seem to pay...

Soul Purging Realism
I should start this with a disclaimer...bad behaviour is bad behaviour, and drunken criminal activities are far from the norm in EMS. However, if you put this movie in context, a true "insiders" context, it serves much the same purpose as the original book: cathartic release of the BS that builds up over years of cleaning up society's messes. As a long time paramedic who has worked in big city EMS for several cities I have to say this movie digs down almost a little too deeply into the dregs of my psyche. The movie gets it right, if not in a documentary like depiction of a real "day in the life", it is an excellent glimpse into the mind of a medic who needs some time off and shows you all the reasons why. Anyone who is considering a career in EMS should avoid this movie...it's really not this bad most of the time. Anyone already in EMS should see this movie with a bunch of your co-workers, you'll laugh your a$& off.

As perfect as life itself....
Life is not perfect and neither is this film. Having been a 911 dispatcher at one time and now, having just watched this movie twice, I can tell you that that is the whole point.

Closer to "Taxi Driver" than any of Scorsese's other films, this movie is far better: Better camera work, better screenplay, better supporting actors, and more interesting and sympathetic characters. For those of you who like a movie that ties everything up in a nice little bow - this ain't it! If you want to see a movie that treats you like an intelligent human being and challenges you, then see it. I liked how this movie presents it's characters with ambivalence, not in Hollywood stereotype. The viewer gets to develop his or her own perceptions of the characters and events.

This movie is adapted from a book of the same name by Joe Connelly. It follows paramedic Frank Pierce over the course of 3 hot night shifts in a scummy part of NYC, and he is gradually coming apart at the seams...

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