BRINGING OUT THE DEAD RATING: 6.5 /10 -->So-so
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Twenty-three years after dropping the ultimate ode to loners everywhere onto the world, TAXI DRIVER (9/10), director Martin Scorsese re-teams with TAXI's screenwriter, Paul Schrader, to revisit the filth and grime of New York's city streets. This time, the protagonist is an after hours ambulance driver/paramedic, who finds himself haunted by patients lost and distraught over the continued hopelessness of his situation.
PLOT: A stressed-out ambulance medic finds himself haunted by the ghosts of people whose lives he was not able to save during his fast-paced graveyard shifts. The film takes place over a period of 48 hours in which the man essentially moves from one emergency situation to another.
CRITIQUE: Think a softer, kinder, less psychotic, and much longer TAXI DRIVER! This underlying story behind this film is no different than many others that you have already seen. A man obsessed by the mistakes from his past, feels guilty and attempts to finds redemption in his present state. Much like TAXI DRIVER, the man in this case drowns himself in drink, finds little time to sleep and gets fixated on "saving" a girl. Much unlike TAXI DRIVER, this film doesn't have much depth, doesn't carry broad political or social connotations, and does not feature an actor completely engrossed in his character. Don't get me wrong, I thought Cage did a good job as the burnt-out, over-worked stressball, but nothing could really compare to DeNiro's possession of Travis Bickle. But I suppose that's another review altogether. All in all, I thought this was actually a pretty good movie with some good performances from the leads, and some even better showings from supporting characters such as Marc Anthony, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore and the drug dealer, Cliff Curtis.
The story itself is not necessarily overpowering, in fact, it basically just moves along its path, predictably strolling down certain emotional avenues, until its final resting spot at the conclusion, which we all foresee early on. Repetitive it is as well, with the basic story essentially featuring Cage et buddy flying from one crisis scene to the next. Thankfully for us, director Martin Scorsese looked waaaay down into his visual bag o' tricks and came up with many new and unique camera games with which to amuse us during the film's two hour runtime. A runtime which basically outlasts its visit by about 20 minutes or so. You can actually feel the last half hour go by, as opposed to the general rapid pace of the first hour and a half. For Martin Scorsese fans, this one should be seen if only for its excellent stylish demonstrations. Cage fans should also check it out as he basically reverts back to his pre-action star days, a la LEAVING LAS VEGAS (9/10), when he actually did some interesting work as an actor. But for everyone else, I can't say that this will be a film that will draw you in with its meaningful story or original undertones. If you enjoy new ways of shooting film or creating motion across a movie arc, then you might also want to see this flick, but overall, I wouldn't recommend it to your "basic movie-going audience". Scorsese and style fans only! Now don't make me take off my glasses!!
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Director Martin Scorsese recently got married for the 5th time, a lengthy laundry list which has included such luminaries as actress/model Isabella Rossellini and producer of many of Marty's films (including this one), Barbara DeFina. He also heavily dated actress Illeana Douglas for a few years. He was once offered the opportunity to direct SCHINDLER'S LIST in the mid-1980's, but declined because he didn't think that he could make as good a film as a Jewish director possibly could. Steven Spielberg went on to direct the film and won the 1993 Oscar for Best Director, an award that Martin Scorsese has never won. Writer Paul Schrader has been married to actress Mary Beth Hurt since 1983. She has a small role in this film as Nurse Contance. Interesting to note that two famous people take credit for the dispatch voices which you, along with Cage and his ambulance driving co-hort, hear during the film's constant calls for emergency action. The male voice is none other than the director himself, Martin Scorsese, while the female voice is actor/rapper Queen Latifah. Actor Marc Anthony, who plays Noel in this film, is actually a very famous Latin singer, who most recently released his first full-length English album. He also sings a duet on fellow Latin singer/actor Jennifer Lopez's debut album. This is the fourth film collaboration between writer Paul Schrader and director Martin Scorsese, with TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, THE LAST TEMPATATION OF CHRIST, being the previous three. This film is based on the similarly titled novel by Joe Connelly.
Review Date: October 24, 1999 Director: Martin Scorsese Writer: Paul Shrader Producers: Barbara DeFina and Scott Rudin Actors: Nicolas Cage as Frank Pierce Patricia Arquette as Mary Burke Genre: Drama Year of Release: 1999 --------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com --------------------------------------- (c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
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