Bringing Out the Dead

December 9, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 120 min Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Is “suck” to harsh of a word here? That is the word that came to mind immediately after viewing this flick unfortunately. However, at the same time it has a few redeeming qualities that make me reluctant to just outright say it sucks. Maybe it would be polite to say it sucked, but in a very stylish and artistic manner!

The premise here is Nicholas Cage plays “Frank”, a paramedic. Frank and his variety of partners in the movie all are at least neurotic as they deal with this very stressful job. These guys are not Gage and DeSoto, and not once did I see them start an IV with D5W. Instead these guys start hitting the bottle, and worse, by the end of their shifts.

This is a typical Scorsese kinda story much in the same vein as something like “Taxi Driver” where he takes us on a journey into self destruction of the central character. The same kind of thing happens here with Frank, except he drives an ambulance instead of a cab, and we dont have Jodie Foster turning tricks. He seems to love to explore the dark side of the human animal. Credit where it’s due, he does an excellent job as usual in that regard.

Nicolas Cage is the subject this time out. His character, Frank, is the kind of guy that if met by Keith Richards, even old Keith might say “Bloody hell chap! You look like crap! Are you ok mate?” Cage is almost too good. By that I mean we’ve seen him do these kind of characters very often, and we get the impression he can do them with little to no effort and this makes it look almost like he’s coasting thru the role. He does a good, if not great, job but there’s nothing here that really makes this a standout performance.

We meet a great series of supporting characters as this movie progresses in the form of Frank’s various partners. Each one features a great job by the likes of John Goodman, Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore. These characters provide some much needed comic relief to an otherwise dark movie and for me saves this movie from being a total dud.

If you’re a huge Scorsese fan and think Taxi Driver is one of the greatest movies of all time, you’ll probably really enjoy this movie. And I’ll give credit where it’s due, there are several great performances and some very unique cinematography. I wont ruin a scene, but the way they worked in sparks along with the skyline lights of New York City and the Empire State Building is pure genius. That along with the few good chuckles that are in it save this from bombing totally in my eyes. However, unless you’re a big fan of Scorcese or Cage, skip this one til video.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 2 Stars, Drama, John Goodman, Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, R, Theatrical, Tom Sizemore, Ving Rhames