Broken Vessels

Released 1999
Stars Todd Field, Jason London, Susan Traylor, James Hong, Patrick Cranshaw, Roxana Zal
Directed by Scott Ziehl

"I could have gotten off the train before it left the station," Tom muses early in "Broken Vessels." "There were plenty of warnings." He has moved from Altoona, Pa., to Los Angeles and taken a job as a rescue squad member, touring the city in an ambulance with his new partner, Jimmy--who, it is said, is a gifted paramedic but has gone through a lot of partners.

Tom is played by Jason London as a man who wants to do right but lacks the will or the knack. He's swept into the world of Jimmy (Todd Field), who is smart, competent and has the tunnel vision of the addict. Everything he does falls into two categories: pre-using and post-using. Working on the rescue squad gives him a free pass to roam the city streets and a certain invulnerability. And he knows the places to hide the ambulance, like culverts and cemeteries. Work is the price he has to pay for the use of the job.

The story arc of "Broken Vessels" is familiar from a lot of other movies about drug users who crash and burn. They don't use to feel good; they use to stop feeling awful. Relief is a window that opens briefly after using and then slams shut again. What makes the movie special is the way both lead actors find the right quiet notes for their performances. No prizes here for chewing the wallpaper; they're ordinary, quiet, smart guys whose best thinking can't get them out of the trap they've laid for themselves.

Summary by Roger Ebert

"Bringing out the Dead" meets "Requiem for a Dream" is the best way to describe this tale of two drug-addled paramedics. Although I'm becoming increasingly bored by drug films, I really enjoyed this one. Films about drug addicts have a certain rhythm. They start with at least one fresh-faced kid with a lot of potential, who becomes casually involved with drugs. The kid loves the high and has great times until he becomes desperately addicted. Then his life is shattered, and the film ends with redemption or punishment. Addiction is not pretty, and it has a familiar pattern which is simplified and condensed in the movies. What I liked about "Broken Vessels" was how it twisted the cliches. It was inventive and fresh in both the direction and the story.

I also liked the subtlety in certain aspects. For example, Tom's secret is slowly presented through great visuals, which eventually tell us what we need to know--that Tom is not a fresh-faced kid seduced by his partner into a gritty underworld of drugs. Instead, he's a fresh-faced kid carrying a terrible burden of guilt, who has a lot of reason to enter this self-destructive world. He tries to balance his self-destructive urges with his need for atonement. Of course, he fails.

My one complaint was the storyline of Elizabeth. Her character was overly squeaky clean with poor dialogue. On the plus side, however, I was very pleased that she didn't end up rescuing Tom in a typical movie cliche that would have had them ending up together.   -- Bill Alward, June 30, 2001