From Deseret News archives:
Bringing Out the Dead
Film review
Of all director Martin Scorsese's films, this overly ambitious dark comedy-drama may be one of his most unfocused, inconsistent works, and one that even his most ardent of fans may be divided over.
Yet in spite of its many obvious faults including a muddled, flabby midsection, and a sure-to-be-controversial subplot that may be misinterpreted if anyone probes for a message there's something compelling about this rambling wreck of a movie, which reunites Scorsese with his "Taxi Driver" collaborator, scribe Paul Schrader.
Some moments of brilliance and tenderness emerge amid all the chaos, not the least of which is Nicolas Cage's spellbinding performance as Frank Pierce, a burned-out paramedic in New York City (circa the early '90s).
Five years of handling tragedies or, more correctly, trying to handle tragedies has taken a toll on Frank, who's turned to alcohol for refuge, and who has begun seeing the ghosts of those patients he couldn't save.
One good thing does happen to Frank, however. He seems to find a kindred spirit in Mary (Patricia Arquette), the daughter of a heart-attack victim still clinging to life, though just barely.
Of course, there's a lot more than that going on in Schrader's plot (adapted from Joe Connelly's best-selling novel), but to say anymore would ruin some of the surprises, and there are quite a few.
Where the film really succeeds is as a spotlight for Cage, who manages to make Frank extremely human and sympathetic, in spite of certain character developments.
Of course, he does get terrific support from Rhames, Goodman and Sizemore. And Arquette's monotone mumble actually seems appropriate to her emotionally disconnected character here.
"Bringing Out the Dead" is rated R for profanity, gore (including makeup effects and hospital gore), simulated drug use (marijuana, crack cocaine and barbiturates), a pair of violent beatings, use of racial epithets and ethnic slurs, a crude gesture and brief male partial nudity.
Recent comments
The main review shown herein misses. I'll explain.
To state
that...
Bill | March 12, 2001 at 6:53 a.m.
Saw Outside Providence on video this weekend and enjoyed it
so much...
e hackett | April 3, 2000 at 8:22 p.m.
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore
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