Name: BRINGING OUT THE DEAD

Date of Release to Theaters: October 22, 1999

Date of Release to Video: Not yet.

Running Time: 118 Minutes

Rated: R (violence, drug use and language)

Production Company: Touchstone

Released by: Paramount

Genre: Drama

Producer: Scott Rudin; Barbara De Fina

Co-Producer: Joseph Reidy; Eric Steel

Executive Producer: Adam Schroeder; Bruce S. Pustin

Associate Producer: Jeff Levine; Mark Roybal

Writer: Paul Schrader (based on the novel by Joe Connelly)

Director: Martin Scorsese

Cast:

Frank Pierce: Nicolas Cage

Mary Burke: Patricia Arquette

Larry: John Goodman

Marcus: Ving Rhames

Tom Walls: Tom Sizemore

Noel: Marc Anthony

Cy Coates: Cliff Curtis

Rose: Cynthia Roman

Frank Pierce, (Nicolas Cage), is a New York City paramedic who is having a really hard time doing his job and staying sane at the same time. He is haunted by Rose, (Cynthia Roman), a teenage girl he wasn't able to save. He sees her face on others everywhere he goes. He's living a nightmare.

He unsuccessfully tries to save everyone he can. And each loss seems to drive him closer and closer to the brink. His mind is in a fog and he doesn't know where to turn. He tries desperately to get his boss to fire him. But with no one to replace him, his boss keeps promising he will…tomorrow. I don't understand why he doesn't just quit. I guess he would lose benefits or something that way. But is the hell he's going through worth more than any benefits he could get?

He falls for the daughter (Patricia Arquette) of a man who had a heart attack. Helping her with her unique problems seems to help him climb out of his self-dug hole a little bit, but is it enough to save him?

There's a tremendous amount of psychological stress totally wearing him out to the point of no return…and yet he goes to work anyway. It makes me worry about the paramedics who are really out there on the job. Are they all going through something that intense every shift? If so, are we truly as safe as we should be? And is the city at night indeed as vile as portrayed on the screen? I certainly hope the answer to all of those questions is a big "No," for everybody's sake.

"Bringing Out the Dead" is very much a downer. Sitting there watching unhappy people in terribly sad situations was a complete drain on my system. I couldn't wait for the movie to be over.

Grade: C-

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