Martin Scorsese returns from almost 2 years with no directing with the Nicolas Cage drama, Bringing Out the Dead, based on the book by Joe Connelly.  Bringing Out the Dead follows EMS and ambulance driver Frank Pierce (Cage) over 48 hours as he goes from call to call constantly sleep-deprived and intoxicated.  Although the story is incohesive at times, it does come together to form a tight-knit drama following Frank Pierce as he tries to get his life back together after meeting Mary Burke (Patricia Arquette) after bringing her dad back from the dead via CPR.

The story line follows Frank Pierce as he tries to get rid of the memory of one of his patients that he lost.  There were no excuses for her death and he believed it was all his fault.  He is now seeing her ghost wherever he turns and wants desperately to rid himself of the hallucinations.  He meets up with Mary Burke and instantly falls for her.  He gets inside information on her father and comforts her and her mother in times of grief.  We actually are able to see that Frank Pierce is a real human here, rather than the hallucinating drunk he is most of the other times.  The relationship between Frank and Mary could have developed more, because even at 2 hours, the movie was captivating and I wanted it to go on.  Scorsese does a great job of getting inside of the ambulance drivers and EMS's and really shows us the motivation behind their job - and why they continue to show up for work.  New York city is shown as a autonomous being, self-contained, needing nothing from the outside world.  The ambulance drivers know they can not escape from their jobs and they try and justify their losses through heavenly manifestation, drunkenness, or just pure hatred/craziness.

At times, Bringing Out the Dead is quite funny, using dark comedy to create an upbeat tone in this very dark movie.  Fellow ambulance driver Marcus (Ving Rhames) provides much of the comedy and plays his role superbly.  Marc Anthony as Noel, a psychotic drug-user also provides some comedy and is a constant storyline throughout.  Patricia Arquette, following her recent lead role in Stigmata, has a small role, but provides a good contrast opposite Nicolas Cage.