Bringing Out the Dead

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Bringing Out the Dead
original film poster
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Barbara De Fina, Scott Rudin
Written by	Paul Schrader, Joe Connelly (novel)
Starring	Nicolas Cage John Goodman Ving Rhames Tom Sizemore Patricia Arquette
Music by	Elmer Bernstein
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (USA) Touchstone Pictures (non-USA)
Release date(s)	October 22, 1999
Running time	121 min.
Language	English
Budget	$32,000,000
IMDb profile

Bringing Out the Dead is a 1999 motion picture. It is a dark drama about Paramedics shot mostly at night in New York City, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Nicolas Cage, Ving Rhames, John Goodman, and Tom Sizemore as paramedics, as well as Patricia Arquette. The movie is based on a novel by Joe Connelly, a former New York City medic.

The movie is centered on paramedic Frank Pierce (Cage). It takes place over the course of three days as Pierce works three separate shifts with three different partners (the Goodman, Rhames, and Sizemore characters). Each of these characters are very different people and thus each shift is a very different experience for Pierce. For example, Rhames's character is a born again Christian, a subject which arises on several occasions during their time together.

Pierce is burned out and somewhat unstable from too many years on the job. He works several long shifts in a row and behaves erratically. He has visions of a young girl named Rose who died of a severe asthma attack while under his care. The most vivid of these happens after Pierce takes some unknown pills that a drug dealer offers him and starts having frightening hallucinations which are also frightening to Sizemore, which is no mean feat in itself, and therefore one of the more humorous scenes of the film. He also starts feeling close to Mary Burke (Arquette), the daughter of a heart attack victim.

[edit] Trivia

This is the third film with Nicolas Cage to be made by Paramount Pictures and Touchstone Pictures, after Face/Off and Snake Eyes.

This is also the fourth time that writer Paul Schrader and director Martin Scorsese have collaborated.

Tied with Sleepy Hollow as the last film released in America on laserdisc.

Films directed by Martin Scorsese

What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? • It's Not Just You, Murray! • The Big Shave • Who's That Knocking at My Door • Street Scenes • Boxcar Bertha • Mean Streets • Italianamerican • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore • Taxi Driver • New York, New York • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince • The Last Waltz • Raging Bull • The King of Comedy • After Hours • The Color of Money • The Last Temptation of Christ • New York Stories • Goodfellas • Cape Fear • The Age of Innocence • Casino • Kundun • My Voyage to Italy • Bringing Out the Dead • Gangs of New York • The Aviator • No Direction Home • The Departed