directed by : martin scorsese written by : joe connelly ( novel ) , paul schrader if there is one thing martin scoresese's new film , " bringing out the dead " proves , it is that great actors and great directing cannot save a weak script . don't get me wrong , paul schrader's script does contain quite a few truly hilarious scenes , and some wonderful characters , but it is marred by long stretches of boring , useless material . while the previews talk about nicholas cage's character , frank pierce , seeing ghosts all around him , this is really nothing more than a rather pointless subplot . frank pierce is a paramedic in new york city . while once good at this job , witnessing the suffering and death around him has taken its toll . now , he hasn't saved a life in months , and his nights are filled with ghostly images of a young lady he was unable to save . his three partners , larry ( john goodman ) , marcus ( ving rhames ) , and tom ( tom sizemore ) , each deal with their jobs in different ways , but aren't able to help frank with his troubles . the only person able to bring anything into frank's life is mary burke ( patricia arquette ) , a young lady whos father has suffered a heart attack and is staying at frank's hospital . " bringing out the dead " certainly contains moments of shear brilliance . the greatest example of this can be found in the use of the film's wonderful soundtrack . each song completely enhances the scene in which it is played . from ub40's " red , red wine " being played during a scene in which goldfish lie dying upon a blood soaked floor , to " you can't put your arms around a memory " playing while frank's ambulance flies across the darkened city streets . if only the music had been able to enhance scenes in which frank stares out at the ghost of the girl , rose ( cynthia roman ) appears at random , for no apparent reason . the supporting cast is wonderful here , though underused . john goodman , great in an almost pointless role , plays a character similar to frank , though less haunted . ving rhames , in one of his best performances yet ( and that's saying something ) , plays a much more hopeful man , who believes he is playing an important role in these peoples' lives . last but not least , the always wonderful , if underrated tom sizemore plays a man who can't seem to decide if he wants to help people or hurt them . if these three men had been present a bit more often , this truly would have helped the film . nicholas cage plays nicholas cage to perfection . no , that is not a typo , i personally believe that mr . cage simply plays himself in dozens of different roles . always a depressed , moody , dour man who mutters on and on about how he can't take life any longer . patricia arquette fares better as the troubled drug addict who can't come to terms with how she feels about her dying father . the scenes between the two are well written and well acted , and the blossoming romance never feels forced . >from what i have said so far , it must sound as though my star rating is a little too harsh . this is not the case , since i found myself falling asleep during many segments which served no purpose , and which seemed to drag on forever . the other major fault , as mentioned earlier , is the underuse of the other three paramedics . while they were on screen , those three actors brought a spark to the otherwise rather lifeless script . when absent , the film sputtered and died . " bringing out the dead " runs too long at 120 minutes which could easily have been chopped down to 100 . i reccomend that if you really want to see it , wait for video , since little should be lost in the transition . i grant it three stars . one last comment . for those of you who noticed that the title was taken from " monty python and the holy grail " , there is a brief line in the film acknowledging this . * * * * * - one of the greatest movies ever made , see it now . * * * * - great flick . try and catch this one . * * * - okay movie , hits and misses . * * - pretty bad . see it if you've got nothing better to do . * - one of the worst movies ever . see it only if you enjoy pain . 
