Review of Bringing Out the Dead (1999) by Martin S — 22 Mar 2011

The following was copied from Wikipedia:

Frank Pierce (Cage), is a paramedic working the graveyard shift in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, a neighborhood in New York City, during the early-90s. It takes place over the course of three nights, each night pairing Pierce with a different partner (Goodman, Rhames, and Sizemore).

Complaining of burn out, Pierce suffers from insomnia and begins having visions of a young girl named Rose who died while under his care. Once called Father Frank for his ability to save lives, Pierce starts to fear that he will soon face another life he cannot save, and begins attempting to get fired as his visions of Rose become more frequent.

Soon, Pierce bonds with Mary (Arquette), the daughter of a heart attack victim whom he had previously saved, and who visits her father regularly at the hospital. Mary talks to Frank about her compassion toward helping others, which is shown contrasting Frank's feelings of burnout. It is through Mary that Frank is able to reconcile his feelings about Rose, and in the end, sleep, after sleeping with Mary and carrying out a mercy killing of her father.

The following is my review:

The direction from Scorsese reminds me of the days when he made Taxi Driver and After Hours. He has a great eye especially when filming New York at night. The soundtrack is fucking awesome! It's one of the reasons to see this film, that and also the creepy ambience of Pierce being haunted by Rose, the young girl he couldn't save. There's also something special about Pierce's voice over dialogue that I thought was very moving and insightful especially about death and how a spirit can linger, angry due to their sudden passing. It's a really great film.

P.S. sorry for the Wikipedia part. I got lazy. Sue me? :).