This surreal portrayal of a stressed-out depressed, alcoholic and generally weird paramedic is a movie you cannot watch just like that. I recommend watching it late at night, but not too tired, since you have to be quite alert to catch everything that's going on.
The basic plot is about an ambulance driver(Nicolas Cage can act!) who hasn't saved anyone for months and begins to doubt he can save anyone anymore. He drinks booze and coffee and the result is a great mess. This is not a "beginning to the end" kind of movie. When the movie ends, nothing is really solved.
The acting is pretty much flawless. Nicolas Cage does his best performance to date, and his paramedic buddies and the people he encounters are all very well portrayed. John Goodman is a fat, sweaty but somewhat likable paramedic, Tom Sizemore(!) is a psychotic ambulance driver who has his very own view of the job, Ving Rhames is a delivered Christian who takes the job as an opportunity to save souls, Mark Anthony is an interesting street weirdo, and Patricia Arquette is a weary woman who loses her father.
The imagery is very good too. New York whizzes past, full of lights and darkness. It's gritty, it's moody and it's surreal.
If you can stand a little unorthodox cinema then you'll like Bringing Out the Dead. But be sure to be in the mood, or the experience will be very different.
Oh, and I salute all the paramedics and other health care heroes out there. If your job is anywhere near this movies, you're the greatest.
The basic plot is about an ambulance driver(Nicolas Cage can act!) who hasn't saved anyone for months and begins to doubt he can save anyone anymore. He drinks booze and coffee and the result is a great mess. This is not a "beginning to the end" kind of movie. When the movie ends, nothing is really solved.
The acting is pretty much flawless. Nicolas Cage does his best performance to date, and his paramedic buddies and the people he encounters are all very well portrayed. John Goodman is a fat, sweaty but somewhat likable paramedic, Tom Sizemore(!) is a psychotic ambulance driver who has his very own view of the job, Ving Rhames is a delivered Christian who takes the job as an opportunity to save souls, Mark Anthony is an interesting street weirdo, and Patricia Arquette is a weary woman who loses her father.
The imagery is very good too. New York whizzes past, full of lights and darkness. It's gritty, it's moody and it's surreal.
If you can stand a little unorthodox cinema then you'll like Bringing Out the Dead. But be sure to be in the mood, or the experience will be very different.
Oh, and I salute all the paramedics and other health care heroes out there. If your job is anywhere near this movies, you're the greatest.