Review of Bringing Out the Dead (1999) by Liam C — 31 Mar 2013

I thought it was good. The stylised scenes of brief madness in the graveyard shift were good to look at and every night when Frank (Cage) would go out on duty with another paramedic brought something unique to the situation. These were my favourite parts of the movie.

The story isn't really a cohesive begin, middle, end, it just showcases days in the life of a burnt out paramedic, it's not a bad thing, it's unique and you're probably never going to see a film like this again. Some parts seem muddled and out of place, I got bored when these scenes happened but after those scenes passed I was very much interested in it again. The imagery of the people who Frank couldn't save was shockingly poignant and was really impactful.

The cast were good and memorable, each one brought something unique. I would have liked to see Cage go a little bit more off the deep end, but as it is, he's just fine. Rhames and Sizemore were some of the best. Make-up department was great and really helped to show Franks desperation to get out of what he was doing, he looked very tired.

The ending was sudden and blunt and when it happened I really lost interest, I had no clue what was going on and became bored of it. I do probably need to watch this again.