BRINGING OUT THE DEAD A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Martin Scorsese's BRINGING OUT THE DEAD might have been more aptly titled ACTING LIKE THE DEAD. The near comatose movie has a few scenes of black humor that work, but generally the story just drags until the ending credits finally put the film out of its misery.
In the starring role, Nicolas Cage plays his usual crazy character, which varies only in the degree of the insanity. As paramedic Frank Pierce, Cage is one of a rag-tag group of psychotic ambulance drivers from Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy. The drivers beat up patients, wreck their ambulances, use their own drugs and drink while driving. The movie makes their jobs look horrible and their resulting conduct seem a natural reaction to their environment.
Although part of film has a supernatural component as Frank hears and sees previous patients who have died and come back to haunt him, this is no more than a subplot. Most of the film is an awkward blend of gritty, New York City realism and over-the-top black comedy.
Overlaid on the scenes are Frank's pretentious musings. ("Saving someone's life is like falling in love." and "I was a great relief mop. It was enough that I just showed up.") Paul Schrader's meandering script is based on a Joe Connelly novel.
The story's only completely satisfying sequence has Frank continuing to try, without any success, to get himself fired. His boss always promises to fire him tomorrow, but doesn't.
Gore is everywhere, and Frank's white shirt is usually polka dotted with blood splatters. The show makes the patients so despicable that you'll find yourself secretly hoping for their demise. The hospital is such a mad house that you'll feel like arresting the staff and the patients for disorderly conduct.
As Frank's friend and a daughter of his first patient, Patricia Arquette gives another in her long string of pathetic performances, her last in STIGMATA being her worst. The other members of the supporting cast include John Goodman, Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore, as the other ambulance drivers. The three manage to rise a little above the hackneyed level of the scripting.
"It's been bad lately, but it's always bad," Frank says of the condition in the emergency room. The same could be said of most of the movie. Including KUNDEN, Scorsese has now produced two yawners in a row. Let's hope he gets back in his groove before his next picture.
BRINGING OUT THE DEAD runs a long 2:00. It is rated R for gritty violent content, drug use and language and would be acceptable for teenagers who are both older and can handle horrific images.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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