Bringing Out the Dead

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Bringing Out the Dead

R

Released Oct 22, 1999

2h 1m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

74%

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117 Reviews

70%

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25,000+ Ratings

After a disheartening and haunting career wears him down, New York City paramedic Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) begins to collapse under the strain of saving lives and witnessing deaths. Through the course of a few nights, three co-workers (John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore) accompany Pierce as he grasps for sanity and pushes to be fired. Before Pierce falls off the edge, he still has a hope when he forms a friendship with a victim's daughter (Patricia Arquette).

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Critics Consensus

Stunning and compelling, Scorsese and Cage succeed at satisfying the audience.

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Jake Cole

Slant Magazine

Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead is a mélange of moods and genres ranging from Gothic horror to Bergmanesque spiritual rumination.

Sep 16, 2024

Full Review

Anthony Lane

The New Yorker

The new picture comes supplied with the same tension [as Taxi Driver], but, though I hate to say so, it feels like a package.

Apr 14, 2020

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Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

Its hard-to-pin-down tone is frighteningly original -- simultaneously world-weary and adolescent with an aura of perpetual anxiety, as if the characters and filmmakers were in pursuit of a catharsis everyone knows will never come.

Sep 17, 2008

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Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

A soul-deep mix of medical extremity and spiritual reckoning, Bringing Out the Dead lets Cage sink into the bleary mania of a man strung out on his inability to make a difference.

Jan 22, 2025

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Chaotic, challenging, and even infuriating.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 25, 2024

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Douglas Davidson

Elements of Madness

... revisiting the film brings with it a different response as the chaos is easier to sort through, to identify, and, oddly, to relate to.

Sep 16, 2024

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Dylan G

Interesting movie to watch going into EMT training, haha! Definitely not representative of a typical day. Reading the Wikipedia page, interested to learn that Nicholas Cage singled it out as one of his best films, and that Martin Scorcese made it in part as a tribute to the role first responders had played in his life. It also quotes the editor as stating that the movie is about empathy, not car chases or anything dramatic -- which changes the effect of watching it, I'd say. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bringing_Out_the_Dead

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/23/25

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Isa B

This film is different in comparison to most of the other films in Martin Scorsese's illustrious career. I love when an artist shows versatility. Bringing Out the Dead isn't my personal favorite from Mr. Scorsese's filmography, but it is most definitely a good film. The story is brought to life quite nicely by a star-studded cast that collectively deliver entertaining performances throughout. The great direction and nice soundtrack make this a must-see for Martin Scorsese fans. I certainly recommend it. 84/100

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/12/24

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Dale R

A Touchstone release directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Nicholas Cage as a burnt out EMT who is bordering on the edge of sanity. I understood the basic plot of the movie, but I felt that during the entire film that there was a deeper meaning in some of the poetic lines or cinematography that I wasn’t getting. The movie happens over three days and each night Cage’s character has a different partner and he slowly takes on some of their personality. I’m not sure why, or if there are stages of sanity reduction that was represented? Maybe I’m reading too much into it, or I wanted this movie to be better. As I did understand the movie, you might like it if you enjoy Scorsese’s films or Nicholas Cage as an actor.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

07/07/24

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Richard B

Great performance of Nicolas Cage in a average movie

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

05/27/24

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Online A

Fantastic. A misunderstood comedy.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/08/23

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Brendan L

Another of Schrader's meditations on being a single, white, male frustrated by society at large. This time, the male in question is an EMS responder played by Nic Cage. Cage does a fantastic job as the literally haunted Frank Pierce, whose bloodshot eyes convey too many hours awake on the job. Great supporting performances by Tom Sizemore, Ving Rhames, and even Scorsese himself as the voice of a 911 dispatcher. The plot itself is simple, almost barely there, instead the film is a character study of someone who deals with life and death on a daily basis and the heavy toll such a responsibility can take.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/22/23

Full Review

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Martin Scorsese

Director

Nicolas Cage

Frank Pierce

Patricia Arquette

Mary Burke

John Goodman

Larry Verber

Ving Rhames

Marcus

Tom Sizemore

Tom Wall

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Synopsis

After a disheartening and haunting career wears him down, New York City paramedic Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) begins to collapse under the strain of saving lives and witnessing deaths. Through the course of a few nights, three co-workers (John Goodman, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore) accompany Pierce as he grasps for sanity and pushes to be fired. Before Pierce falls off the edge, he still has a hope when he forms a friendship with a victim's daughter (Patricia Arquette).

Director: Martin Scorsese
Producer: Barbara De Fina, Scott Rudin
Screenwriter: Joe Connelly, Paul Schrader
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Touchstone Pictures, De Fina-Cappa, Paramount Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 22, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 21, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $16.6M
Runtime: 2h 1m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround

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