Bringing Out the Dead
Movie, 1999, The '90s, Set in Hell's Kitchen paramedics
Bringing Out the Dead is #17 of 26 in release order and #17 of 26 in chronological order in the Martin Scorsese.
The story
Once called "Father Frank" for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank Pierce sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.
Bringing Out the Dead recap
Bringing Out the Dead (1999) follows Frank Pierce, a burned-out Hell's Kitchen paramedic haunted by patients he lost, across three night shifts. Martin Scorsese directs from Paul Schrader's adaptation of Joe Connelly's novel. Nicolas Cage plays Frank, who has not saved anyone in months and keeps seeing the ghost of Rose, a homeless girl who died on his watch. On the first night, with his partner Larry (John Goodman), he revives Mr. Burke after a heart attack and meets his daughter Mary (Patricia Arquette), a former addict. The second night he rides with Marcus (Ving Rhames), a preacher-like driver who prays over an overdose and crashes the ambulance. Mary relapses, and Frank finds her at the den of a dealer named Cy Coates (Cliff Curtis), where he takes pills and hallucinates the dead. In the hospital, he hears Burke begging to be let go. On the third night, he partners with the violent Tom Wolls (Tom Sizemore). Scorsese made it after Kundun and before Gangs of New York.
Bringing Out the Dead ending explained
Bringing Out the Dead ends with Frank at peace for the first time. On the third night he saves Cy Coates, impaled on a railing above the street, his first rescue in months, and stops Tom from beating the drifter Noel with a bat. Then he goes to Burke's bedside and, hearing the old man's voice ask again, removes his breathing tube and lets him die. He tells Mary, who accepts it. The ghost of Rose forgives him, and he falls asleep beside Mary as morning comes.
Post-credits scenes
No. Bringing Out the Dead has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Bringing Out the Dead
Bringing Out the Dead is streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, and Fawesome in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 6.8/10, Rotten Tomatoes 74%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Kundun, before Gangs of New York.
- Chronological order: after Kundun, before Gangs of New York.
Cast
- Nicolas Cage as Frank Pierce
- Patricia Arquette as Mary Burke
- John Goodman as Larry Verber
- Ving Rhames as Marcus
- Tom Sizemore as Tom Wolls
- Marc Anthony as Noel
- Mary Beth Hurt as Nurse Constance
- Cliff Curtis as Cy Coates
- Aida Turturro as Nurse Crupp
- Nestor Serrano as Dr. Hazmat
- Cynthia Roman as Rose
- Sonja Sohn as Kanita
Directed by Martin Scorsese.