Bringing Out the Dead

Bringing Out the Dead
original film poster
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Barbara De Fina, Scott Rudin
Written by	Novel: Joe Connelly Screenplay: Paul Schrader
Starring	Nicolas Cage John Goodman Ving Rhames Tom Sizemore Patricia Arquette Marc Anthony
Music by	Elmer Bernstein
Distributed by	United States/Canada Paramount Pictures United Kingdom/International Touchstone Pictures Buena Vista International
Release date(s)	October 22, 1999
Running time	121 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$55,000,000
Box office	$16,797,191

Bringing Out the Dead is a 1999 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, and based on the novel by Joe Connelly with the screenplay by Paul Schrader. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Ving Rhames, John Goodman, Tom Sizemore and Patricia Arquette. The film was a flop at the box office but it received very positive reviews from critics.

Plot

It is about 48 hours in the life of a burnt-out paramedic: Frank (Cage) is a Manhattan medic, working the graveyard shift in a two-man ambulance team. He's burned out, exhausted, and seeing ghosts, especially a young woman he failed to save six months before. He is no longer able to save people - he simply brings out the dead. We follow him for three nights, each with a different partner: Larry (Goodman), who thinks about dinner; Marcus (Rhames), who looks to Jesus; and Tom (Sizemore), who wallops people out of frustration. Frank befriends the daughter of a heart victim he brings in. Mary (Arquette) is an ex-junkie, angry at her father but now hoping he'll live.

Once called Father Frank for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired-calling in sick, coming in late, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he can't help- yet he cannot quit the job.

Cast

• Nicolas Cage as Frank Pierce
• Patricia Arquette as Mary Burke
• John Goodman as Larry
• Ving Rhames as Marcus
• Tom Sizemore as Tom Wolls
• Marc Anthony as Noel
• Cliff Curtis as Cy Curtis
• Mary Beth Hurt as Nurse Constance
• Aida Turturro as Nurse Crupp
• Phyllis Somerville as Mrs. Burke
• Queen Latifah as Dispatcher Love (Voice Only)
• Martin Scorsese as Dispatcher (Voice Only)

Soundtrack

Track listing

1. "T.B. Sheets" - Van Morrison
2. "Janie Jones" - The Clash
3. "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" - Johnny Thunders
4. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" - R.E.M.
5. "I'm So Bored with the USA" - The Clash
6. "Red Red Wine" - UB40
7. "Nowhere to Run" - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
8. "Too Many Fish in the Sea" - The Marvelettes
9. "Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am a Japanese Sandman)" - The Cellos
10. "Rivers of Babylon" - The Melodians
11. "Combination of the Two" - Big Brother & The Holding Company
12. "Bell Boy" - The Who

Notes

• The opening song on the movie is "T.B. Sheets", a lengthy blues-influenced song about a young girl who lies dying in a hospital bed, surrounded by the heavy smell of death and disease. It was written by Van Morrison and included on his 1967 album, Blowin' Your Mind!. The song was originally going to be used in Taxi Driver.
• Director Martin Scorsese provides the voice of one of the ambulance dispatchers.
• The film was part of a trio of films in the late 1990s starring Nicolas Cage that were co-productions of Paramount Pictures and Touchstone Pictures, with Face/Off (1997) with John Travolta and Snake Eyes (1998) with Gary Sinise.
• One of the last titles to be released on the Laserdisc format
• Queen Latifah provides the voice of one of the ambulance dispatchers

Reception

The film was generally well received by critics and holds a 71% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 104 reviews. Roger Ebert gave it a perfect four star rating, writing, "To look at Bringing Out the Dead--to look, indeed, at almost any Scorsese film--is to be reminded that film can touch us urgently and deeply."

Audiences stayed away from what was perceived in its marketing as a Sixth Sense-type ghost story.

Box office

Bringing Out the Dead debuted at #4 in 1,936 theaters with a weekend gross of only $6,193,052. Produced at a budget of $55 million but generated a revenue of just $16.7 million, the film was a box office bomb.

Laserdisc release

This motion picture, along with Sleepy Hollow, were the final feature films released on Laserdisc.

References

• Siegel, Ashely (January 1, 2000). "Bringing Out The Dead (R) (film review)". Mountain Xpress (Asheville, North Carolina, United States). http://www.mountainx.com/movies/review/bringingoutdead.php. Retrieved 25 January 2010. 

External links

• Bringing Out the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
• Bringing Out the Dead at Rotten Tomatoes
• Roger Ebert's review of the film