Bringing Out The Dead (1999)
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore Director: Martin Scorsese Screenplay: Paul Schrader, based on the novel by Joe Connelly 120 minutes Rated R
Review by Donlee Brussel
"Bringing Out The Dead" opens with a title card that says "This film takes place in New York City in the early 1990s" as if it's not evident in the next 2 hours. It seems unnecessary, since I doubt anyone will mistake Scrosese's latest opus as a 2 hour episode of "ER."
It's film about 3 days in the life of Frank Pierce (Nicholas Cage), a paramedic in Hell's Kitchen. From Martin Scorsese, we have come to expect only the best, just like Terrence Malick, Stanley Kubrick or Steven Spielberg. Who set the bar for these directors? The answer is evident when you look at their films from the 70s and 80s. They each did groundbreaking films that set the bar too high for themselves. "Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver" are considered two of the greatest films of all time. That's the reason "Dead" disappoints.
The first thing we hear in the film is a voice over from Frank Pierce in an ambulance with his partner Larry (John Goodman). The opening makes "Bringing Out The Dead" seem like a continuation of "Taxi Driver." There's a voiceover from our protagonist who's seeking redemption in NY with a late night job in a mobile workplace. He meets a woman set to get his life back together. Behind the scenes we have Martin Scorsese giving Paul Schrader's (Taxi Driver) screenplay his Midas touch. With those features, it's inevitable to have a sense of deja vu. One of the problems with "Bringing Out The Dead" is it tries to play out as a dramedy. The dramatic moments so cliched they seem amateurish. And the comedic elements that are present are so good, we wonder why they're criminally underused.
The film gives Frank Pierce three partners. The first is a compulsive overeater named Larry, played by John Goodman. Trailers, posters, ads, none mention his name or character. Why? Maybe because he gives the second to most lackadaisical performance in the film; it doesn't require much range or acting chops and his segment is the worst easily dismissable. It doesn't have any suspense or the tension we've grown to expect from Scorsese.
Ving Rhames has always been one of my favorite actors. He has a slickness, a sly coolness that only he can achieve. Every one of his roles has been great because of him. He throws his all into each of them and this is no exception. The second act of "Bringing Out The Dead" is definitely the best. Rhames injects the film with life as soon as he ignites on the screen. His character Marcus is a great contrast to Frank Pierce. Marcus is a ladies' man whose ego is as big as the city he lives in. A man who's also a strong believer in God. Ving Rhames' performance alone is worth the price of admission or at least a rental. "Dead" is hilarious, kinetic, in a word, Scorsese- esque.
And for its final act, the film concentrates on Cage's love interest and his third partner, Tom Sizemore. Tom Walls is a psycho-sociopath and he's played to a tee by Sizemore. His exit scene is just so sensationally idiosyncratic that I just have to give Tom his props. His character turns the film into what it should've been in the first place, a darkly comedic 2 hour MTV video. When he or Ving Rhames are on the screen letting it all hang out for everyone to see, I'm watching a good movie. When they're not on, we're left with Patrcia Arquette.
Arquette gives one of the blandest performances I've seen so far this year. She drags down "Bringing Out The Dead" so much that it will leave viewers tempted to leave the theatre. I suggest that they don't because the film does have its admirable traits that should be seen.
- Copyright 1999 by Donlee Brussel
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews