Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Schrader Fails To Find New Riffs On Old Tunes |
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On my personal list of all-time great films, the work of Martin Scorsese figures prominently. His best pictures (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas) are marked by an exhilarating use of the medium- not simply as a means to dazzle an audience with technical wizardry- but as a way to tell human stories. His lesser films (After Hours, Casino) attempt to achieve the same kind of kinetic energy but generally suffer from unfocused screenplays- blunting the impact of the visual storytelling. Sadly, “Bringing Out The Dead” falls into this second category. Lesser Scorsese is still interesting- but also more disappointing.
With shades of “Taxi Driver”, “Bringing Out The Dead” opens with a close-up into the eyes of our protagonist. The tired, painful eyes belong to Frank Pierce- New York City Emergency Medic and Ambulance Driver played by Nicholas Cage. Frank works the graveyard shift- a grim, taxing existence that takes him into the bowels of the city each night- mostly with no reward. His patients are often dead on arrival- or will be later that night in an insanely crowded, inhumane City Emergency Ward. There was a time when the job offered a sense of reward and excitement for Frank but weeks have past since he has last saved a life and the ghosts of those now deceased are haunting him- first in dreams, now in real-life hallucinations.
For a while the movie is involving as it takes us into a unique and unfamiliar world- a world where death is the norm- human suffering a necessary component. Fortunately, a surprising amount of dark, comic relief (the strongest aspect of the film) is infused into the story- much of it provided by Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction) and Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan) who add solid support as two of Frank’s partners. Rhames plays Marcus- a charismatic, bible-spouting man who uses the life-and death occurrences of his job as a way of spreading the Gospel Of The Lord. Sizemore plays Tom Walls- a man who, like Frank, is at his wits end- although the similarities end there. Frank is a decent man with an innate ability to provide comfort to the loved ones of the dying- Walls deals with his unpleasant environment by inflicting pain on the poorest, and most “insignificant” of his patients (drug dealers, mental patients,etc.). There is little in the way of story in “Bringing Out The Dead” - for the most part it is one emergency run after another. Much of what we see in this odyssey is of interest- but ultimately the repetitive, episodic nature of the story wore me down.
Scorsese aficionados, or at least anyone who has seen “Taxi Driver” may get a sense of deja vu here. Yes I know the main characters are different (Travis Bickle was a disturbed man who turned to violence as a means of cleansing his soul- Frank Pierce seeks solace by saving the lives of those he comes across) but the atmosphere and themes of both films are similar- The close-up of the eyes mentioned above, the need for redemption in a chaotic world, the monotone, short-sentence narration by the films main characters, the moody journey into the seedier side of New York City, the slow-motion shots (from the vantage point of an automobile window) of hookers and drug pushers,etc. The lasting effect of all this, quite frankly, was to remind me of the earlier, better film.
The screenplay by frequent Scorsese collaborator Paul Schrader (based on a novel by John Connelly) is the weakest element of the project. Schrader has made a career of telling similar stories of mans need for redemption . Just last year in “Affliction” Nick Nolte portrayed a man struggling to recover from an abusive childhood. Certainly this is an intriguing theme but after twenty years of waxing poetic on the same subject I have this message for Mr. Schrader- Enough Already!
In their earlier collaborations Scorsese was successful in expressing visually the inner turmoil of Schrader’s tragic heroes. This time however the partnership is not as strong. The biggest reason for this, I think, is the one-note nature of Cage’s character. In “Taxi Driver” Scorsese and Schrader show us a steady escalation of Travis Bickle’s rage and catharsis. In “Bringing Out The Dead” the ragged emotional state of Frank Pierce is consistent right from the start- perhaps an explanation for the lack of power in the films final scenes focusing on Franks escape from spiritual purgatory. For the most part, the character of Frank Pierce exists for others in the story to bounce off of. I believe this is what the filmmakers had intended- but dramatically it is limiting.
While Schrader has spent his time recently playing riffs on the same theme, Scorsese has utilized his talents on some unique films like the period-piece drama “Age Of Innocence” and historical epic “Kundun”. The director is always at his best with fresh material. “Bringing Out The Dead” is the kind of film these two can do in their sleep. Sure, they have the talent to pull off this material- but you knew that already.