Wait a minute. In that last paragraph, I wrote that the only time I've ever been disappointed with a Scorsese movie was with "Age of Innocence." That's not true, there's one other Scorsese movie that disappointed me. It's called "Bringing Out the Dead." I mean, it didn't totally suck, it just wasn't one of Scorsese's greats. Not even close.
I was really looking forward to "Bringing Out the Dead," but I can no longer use the excuse about how my hopes were too high for a movie. My hopes were high for "The Blair Witch Project," as well as "Fight Club," and I really enjoyed those movies. There IS a possibility that I just didn't get all the symbolism and all that. Maybe I'm not as sophisticated a film geek as I'd like to think I am. Many critics mention the religious symbolism and subtext type stuff, and perhaps they're right. Unfortunately, I can only say how much I was entertained, and it wasn't much. What I DID like about the movie was the acting and (of course) Martin Scorsese's visuals. I just couldn't get into the story, I guess.
Bringing Out the Dead" has Nicolas Cage in the lead role, and he's great here. He's a great actor who, for whatever reason, has been in a few crappy movies since winning his Best Actor Oscar for "Leaving Las Vegas," but his acting ability can never be questioned. Cage's wife, Patricia Arquette, is also in the movie, and she's another one who can really kick ass. Also in the movie are John Goodman (my God, that guy is even BIGGER... he really needs to start losing weight before he drops dead or something), Ving Rhames (the best thing in the movie... he steals every scene he's in), Tom Sizemore, Marc Anthony (yeah, the same guy who sings the Spanish music... as it turns out, he's an actor, too), and Nestor Torres (he was in "Hangin' with the Homeboys" as the Puerto Rican guy who wanted everyone to think he was Italian). As far as the acting goes, there isn't a weak link in the bunch. All of the performances are excellent.
With such great acting and Martin Scorsese's visuals, it's a shame that the script wasn't up to par. I mean, it was written by Paul Schrader, a great writer who collaborated on three other Scorsese movies, "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," and "The Last Temptation of Christ" (which the evil corporate giant, Blockbuster Video, STILL refuses to put on their shelves). Typically, when Schrader and Scorsese get together, the result is greatness. Sadly, it's not the case with "Bringing Out the Dead." The screenplay was based on the novel by Joe Connelly, but I can't blame him. Even if the book was crap, it's the job of the screenwriter to make it work on film. Look at "Forrest Gump." Mediocre book, excellent movie.
"Bringing
Out the Dead" isn't terrible, it just isn't as good as it should be. On
the plus side, it has some top-notch acting and lotsa cool stuff to look
at thanks to Martin Scorsese. I'm willing to admit that I may have missed
something. Maybe it's a masterpiece and I don't even realize it! But I doubt
it.