Scorsese’s A Christmas Carol
starring Nicholas Cage
It’s a story you’ve heard thousands of times. You’ve seen it acted out by Alastair Sims, Michael Caine, Jim Carrey, and Bill Murray. By Mr. Magoo, Flintstones, Muppets, Smurfs and ducks. You might even be sick of it.
But there’s one awesome version that you’ve probably never seen, even if you’ve seen it. I watched the movie at least a dozen times before I even realized what I was seeing.
Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out The Dead may be about a paramedic in New York City on the surface, but take another look and it’s a stealth gritty reboot of A Christmas Carol.
Let’s look at the facts.
It’s Christmas. Nic Cage has given up on life.
He’s been seeing ghosts.
A spirit from Frank’s past has showed up to blame him for her death.
After seeing her, he has three partners in three nights.
The first partner is someone from his past. The man he rode with in better times, when he was saving lives. The man who was there when the aforementioned spirit died, leading to him remember and relive the death that began his current streak of losing patients.
The second partner is someone who urges him to live in the present. A man who lives for the moment, and enjoys everything… even if it’s a sea of pain and suffering, or a horrifying accident. They even witness a supposed virgin birth, and offer comfort to the homeless couple in question, in case the Christmas spirit metaphor wasn’t already obvious enough. Cage catches up with people connected to past calls and sees how their lives were affected by his visits.
The third partner represents the horrible future Nic Cage has in store for him if he doesn’t turn it around. A man who goes beyond not helping people, but actively hurting them. He sees all of the people he bonded with in the present get horribly injured by rescuers with selfish motivations.
Nic Cage realizes that when trying to help people, he cannot make it about himself. This movie’s version of Bob Cratchit is a man being forcing to stay artificially alive against his wishes just so that Nic Cage can feel better about himself for not losing a patient.
That man‘s adopted son is a disabled man that is very sick and constantly close to death. The most dramatic point in the future segment is when Nic Cage thinks he witnesses the man’s death and vows to do whatever he can to save him instead. He has a name even more Christmassy than Tiny Tim, Noel.
In the end, Cage learns to let go of his own ego, let go of the people who are ready to go, and help those who are ready to live to live. He’s ready to live again himself. He makes peace with his ghosts, and he’s no longer alone.
★★★★★ Even in an endless parade of A Christmas Carol remakes, I never get sick of Martin Scorsese’s A Christm-er, sorry. Bringing Out The Dead.
