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Bringing Out the Dead There is currently 1 review for this movie. Do you wish to add a review for this movie?
Back To Good Review by Philip Henderson After years of gangsters and goodfellas, Martin Scorsese returns to the streets of New York and his Taxi Driver’days in the paramedic drama Bringing Out the Dead. And just like Scorsese, the film is also a chance for Nicholas Cage to put behind some of his poorer acting performance in recent years, and play a part similar to that of his Oscar winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas. Cage plays a paramedic haunted by the ghost of Rose, a teenager he lost while on the job, and who has not saved anyone’s life for three months. Set over three nights, the story traces his manic-depressive type mood swings and his quest to either get fired or save someone to rid himself of Rose altogether. Much like his performance in Vegas, Cage appears in every scene and has the job of carrying the movie to ensure it works. And his performance is rather good. Scorsese gives him plenty of help, vividly setting the scene of New York’s seedy side from the street, much like he achieved in Taxi Driver. His use of speeding up the film and various other techniques to show Cage’s different moods does not detract from the movie in any way and only adds to the actor’s performances. Scorsese even had his actors play a scene backwards, which he then reversed himself during post-production, to show how Rose’s death in Cage’s character’s dream. There are a number of fine supporting performances throughout the movie. John Goodman, Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore are all good as Cage’s paramedic partners and Patricia Arquette ‘s portrayal of a recovered drug addict whose father Cage saves from a heart attack adds to both the development of the movie and Cage’s character. The use of music is exceptional, particularly during the three night drives, as Scorsese matches the sounds with the character of Cage’s partner… soul music during Ving Rhames, rock during Tom Sizemore. Despite its R rating there is little violence in the film, with most of the action taking place before the paramedic arrives at the scene. But like Taxi Driver, this is a movie which people will either like or hate because of the story content. The story itself flows well, with plenty of irony to keep those always searching for a second meaning in a film happy. But it is a dark story, which despite the ending, viewers won’t leave the theatre smiling about. It’s intriguing, but probably not a movie you will want to see again too soon. Rating: ***
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