This week in my Scorsese film class we watched one of Martin's lesser-known films that was made between his awesome Goodfellas and courageous Gangs of New York, a late nineties film called Bringing Out The Dead starring Nicolas Cage and Patricia Arquette, based on a novel by Joe Connelly. 

I watched this film when it came out on VHS when I was a kid and really enjoyed it then I watched it about two months ago and wasn't a big fan, but after watching yet again I must say that I'm actually impressed here with Scorsese's clear use of interesting storytelling and providing one of his most memorable characters: Frank Piece (played by Cage).

Bringing Out The Dead is about a guy who works the graveyard shift on ambulance duty. Along with some of his cohorts including John Goodman, Ving Rhames, and "Crazy" Tom Sizemore he finds the seedy underbelly of the city of New York and finds a type of love along the way (Patricia Arquette). His late nights and depression quickly add up and take its toll on the man as he struggles to stay coherent in a different world on the other side of the night.

This film has obviously been compared to Scorsese's 1976 film, Taxi Driver, with due context. You follow this man who's on bad grips with reality in a world that not too many people know exist, seeing through his eyes at the true nature of man's struggles against himself. While this movie has a lot in common with that aforementioned film starring Robert de Niro, this one also stands on its own as an adrenaline charged joy ride through the crazy streets of the city.

Scorsese's direction here is high octane charged with many speed through shots with the Rolling Stones and The Clash (among many other rock bands) blasting in the soundtrack and the film has a very dark and graphic nature to it as these guys are ambulance EMTs who deal with life and death as well as patients in the hospital.

While this is less violent and graphic than many of Scorsese's other catalog, it should be noted that this one is still pretty crazy from the point of how it's shot-how fast it is and how, at times, you feel as if you are going crazy with Cage's character.

Say what you will about Nicolas Cage, but I've enjoyed a ton of this guy's performances. Granted he's been in a lot of crap lately (although I loved Alex Proyas' Knowing), he's proven his acting chops with such films as Adaptation and the immensely underrated, The Weather Man. Here he is no different and his weird antics pay off all the way through.

The supporting cast is one of the best seen in a Scorsese picture with Goodman and Rhames providing some much needed comedic relief (although this film has much black comedy in it, as well as drama) and Arquette, like always, is a fox who sinks her teeth into a performance with a candor that is pretty wild.

The only real problem I got from this movie is that I felt it to be a bit long at two hours. Some things could have easily been cut out and could have added to the strength of the narrative that was being unfolded, but all the while the film isn't really boring as it has a bloated length.

This is one of Scorsese's forgotten movies of the late nineties and I highly recommend it to those who have never seen it. There is a lot of content that reminded me of Mean Streets, but there is also a huge density of experimental stuff related to story and camera set up that I found Scorsese to use here for the first time.

What you should expect is a gritty story told through the windows of a midnight ambulance express where everybody keeps dying and saving a life is a big deal to a man who's haunted by demons in his past. This is truly a gem of Scorsese cinema and one that's certainly an interesting and entertaining watch.

© Jason Haskins, 2009



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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older