Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

Haunted by the patients he failed to save, an extremely burned-out Manhattan ambulance paramedic fights to maintain his sanity over three fraught and turbulent nights.

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writers:

Joe Connelly (novel), Paul Schrader (screenplay)

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

An Easter story. Frank is a Manhattan medic, working graveyard in a two-man ambulance team. He's burned out, exhausted, seeing ghosts, especially a young woman he failed to save six months' before, and no longer able to save people: he brings in the dead. We follow him for three nights, each with a different partner: Larry, who thinks about dinner, Marcus, who looks to Jesus, and Tom, who wallops people when work is slow. Frank befriends the daughter of a heart victim he brings in; she's Mary, an ex-junkie, angry at her father but now hoping he'll live. Frank tries to get fired, tries to quit, and keeps coming back, to work and to Mary, in need of his own rebirth.

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Plot Keywords:

post punk | ghost | paramedic | ambulance | rescue | 

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Taglines:

From the Director of Taxi Driver

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for gritty violent content, drug use and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 October 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vidas al límite

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,193,052, 24 October 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$16,640,210, 9 January 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

De Fina-Cappa, Paramount Pictures, Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot over a period of 65 days.

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Goofs

Right after Larry puts Mr. Burke on the cardiac monitor, Frank pushes I.V. drugs. No one started an I.V.

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Quotes

Frank Pierce: [listening to the radio] Hey, it's Love!
Marcus: Yep, she only works when I'm workin'.
Frank Pierce: I heard you and Love went on a blind date.
Marcus: Yeah.
Frank Pierce: She hit you with a bottle?
Marcus: Why you gotta bring that up? She loved me like no woman ever has.

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Connections

References Fargo (1996)

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Soundtracks

Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
Written by Stevie Wonder

User Reviews

Ambulance blues.

Martin Scorcese's heroes have always been some of kind of Christs:"Taxi driver" is the most prominent example,but the boxer in "raging bull" is another one.It was downright embarrassing he totally missed the point when he made his "last temptation"

Nicholas Cage is another modern Christ (check the poster),and the last picture leaves no doubt about it when he and Patricia Arquette look like a pieta.More a chronicle than a real story,this is a two-hour wandering through the deepest worlds of human despair.the hero experiments helplessness,culpability and remorse.His "victims" ,so to speak,come back to haunt him and he's gradually slipping into madness.It's hard to be a saint in the city .

As always in Scorcese's movies ,the soundtrack is particularly good ,including REM's "what' s the frequency Kenneth?" and 10,000 Maniacs'"these are days"(from an album called "our time in eden"!).The cinematography is often dazzling when the ambulance goes thru the neons at night.Nevertheless,if you're feeling down-in-the-mouth,avoid.