Broken Vessels (1998)

Director:

Scott Ziehl

Writers:

David Baer (writer)
John McMahon (writer)

Release Date:

29 July 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Over the edge and out of control.

Plot:

A young Pennsylvania man moves to Los Angeles to begin work for an ambulance service. There he is teamed...

Plot Keywords:

Los Angeles Storm Drain | Katana Sword | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Todd Field	...	Jimmy
Jason London	...	Tom
Roxana Zal	...	Elizabeth
Susan Traylor	...	Susy
James Hong	...	Mr. Chen
Patrick Cranshaw	...	Gramps
Brent David Fraser	...	Jed
Stephanie Feury	...	Jill
Dave Neilson	...	Rick
William Smith	...	Bo
Charlie Spradling	...	Ginger (as Charley Spradling London)
Ashlie Rhey	...	Karen
Rodrigo Castillo	...	Oscar
David Baer	...	Bob
Al Israel	...	Detective McMahon

MPAA:

Rated R for strong and continuous drug use, language, sexuality and violence.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:-16 | UK:18 | USA:R | Australia:MA (cable rating)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Ziehl & Zal

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the scene where they're taking a boy who was in critical condition to the hospital. Tom is in the back with the boy and Jimmy is driving. In real life situations, Jimmy who is a Paramedic should have been in the back, being it was a Advance Life Support situation. Tom who is a E.M.T-Basic should have been driving.

Quotes:

Jimmy: I like coke...you like coke? Yeah, things go better with coke.

Movie Connections:

References "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962)

Soundtrack:

Lord

A neat little movie

This is a neat little movie with a lot of energy and control - it's not overly flashy or gimmicky and doesn't indulge in excessive Tarantino-aping; the Field character is truly sleazy, but the movie keeps everything within plausible limits of degradation and loss of control, so that his pull on London is easy to understand without losing moral perspective. It's a two-hander at heart, but through various secondary characters - especially Field's Gramps, a hopeless drug addict - it manages to carve out a plausible broader social base (even if you wonder how the guys ever manage to get through any of their shifts intact). Some of the specific exposition is tedious, or overly familiar and dutiful, or just marginally amusing, but the meat of it lies simply in colourful incident, and in that regard it has real panache and sense of character.