1999, 1 hr 55 min., Rated R. Dir: Martin Scorcese. Cast: Nicholas Cage (Frank), Patricia Arquette (Mary Burke), Ving Rhames, John Goodman, Tom Sizemore, Marc Anthony (Noel).

Golly gee whiz I'm depressed. That's the first clue I'll give you that Bringing Out the Dead, the new picture by director Martin Scorcese featuring acclaimed actor Nicholas Cage is the antithesis of uplifting motion pictures.

What Bringing Out the Dead does bring to the table is drama laced with black comedy undertones, featuring some of the best characters ever assembled in a movie, then it proceeds to bombard us with the ugly world of a paramedic in dire need of changing jobs.

It was very timely that the same night I watched the film, I read an article in Men's Health ("Men in Blue," Nov. '99) about overstressed police officers, who live in a similar world of a paramedic:

"Every day you're dealing with the crap--the deaths, the car wrecks, the creeps the rest of the world doesn't have to notice," says Jim Mock, a retired police officer from Torrance, Calif., who quit the squad after suffering serious bouts of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The article continues that, "Exposure to violence is not just bad for the soul; it's bad for the brain as well." Add to that what Frank (Cage) encounters on the graveyard shift in Bringing Out the Dead: the lunatics and the drunks, as well as those on the verge of death from cardiac arrest and other common killers, not to mention the families and friends of all the patients.

The Men's Health article also points out studies that show men who have endured trauma and chronic stress show chemical and structural changes in the brain. Anthony Morgan, M.D., who is doing a study of stress on veterans says that "men with high circulating levels of stress hormones often don't feel their world is a safe place."

Why do I mention all this? Because this is the world of Frank Pierce, a New York paramedic who hasn't saved a person's life in months, someone who hasn't felt the adrenaline that comes when you save just one life, how you feel that God is working through you; Frank feels out of touch with the world, a world that isn't safe anymore. I want you to see that the movie isn't just a fantasy but could be any unsettled paramedic on the streets today.

Such a psychological aspect is a wonder to watch in this movie, and I give Scorcese high credit for attacking the subject with such honesty and voracity. Sure, I know there are many, many paramedics who will call this movie a travesty and a farce, but they will also admit that at least one Frank is in their circle. You don't make movies about normal people doing normal things; you make a movie about those on the fringe, those who are trying to make peace with the world, those with a story to tell.

And tell a story Frank does, through constant narration of his feelings, of his thoughts, of his experiences. He says them through narration because if he told his coworkers it would diminish his standing with them, and they would no longer trust his capabilities as a paramedic.

I refer again to the Men's Health article, that points out that although "we see (paramedics) as authority figures, in a sense they don't have much control over their working lives. They live in a fundamentally responsive and stressful mode. "They can't turn down a call, ever. And they can't back down, no matter how bad a situation becomes. They must resolve the problem," says Gene Sanders, Ph.D., a former police chief.

In one narration, Frank tells us that the training only helps in 10% of the calls they handle, and in most cases it doesn't matter if they are there. The paramedic then exists as only a "griefmop," there to soothe the family in their time of grief. In an early scene in Bringing Out the Dead, Frank turns on the siren after one cardiac arrest, only to make the family following close behind more comfortable that there is hope.

Earlier I mentioned the great cast of characters who are characters. Patricia Arquette plays a disturbed young woman named Mary who had gotten back on her feet the past few years, after having trouble with drugs and men for a long time. Mary did not have a great relationship with her father, but when he has a heart attack all the bad feelings disappear, and she can't handle the thought of her father dying, falling back to the "comforting" world she knew before of dangerous substances. Frank falls for Mary and tries to help her through the moment, but finds himself in need of just as much help and sympathy.

The other paramedics provide most of the comedy during the three days we follow Frank, as his partners include the somewhat calming John Goodman, the God-fearing Ving Rhames and the overexuberant Tom Sizemore. Each has a different style, and each tries to help Frank find stable ground to cling to and realize how great a job the EMS truly is.

The "crazy" people (as Mary calls them) at the hospital are just as entertaining. Gris the cop patrols the entrance to the emergency room, stopping those who are less in need of immediate assistance and doing it rather abruptly. "Don't make me take off my sunglasses," Gris says, showing the irrational patient that he's getting upset.

The check-in nurse is also a comedic wonder, counseling the patients as they give her their information. She tells an addict of the drug Red Death that if he continues to harm himself, he shouldn't breathe the city's air since he's only harming himself. Every patient is treated this way, even those who accidentally had their heads busted open, by no fault of their own. I know, it may not sound so, but every instance is funny.

Even more comedic are the dispatchers, a female named Love who dated Rhames' character only to hit him over the head with a bottle. Then there's the male dispatcher who has a quip for every instance, which becomes even more humorous when I discovered his voice is none other than Scorcese's. By the way, Love is voiced by Queen Latifah.

I mention the comedy because I want you to see Bringing Out the Dead, and you won't feel it is too dramatic. You may find yourself shifting in your seat, but that may be either that you are uncomfortable with the movie itself or that there are several slow scenes, admittedly.

But there is plenty to keep you interested, such as the cinematography, which keeps the movie dark during the graveyard shift, only to frequently shine a bright light on Cage in order to present an angelic appearance; Frank is doing God's work but has lost touch with that fact.

The frequent use of quick-motion shots is particularly interesting, always in the ambulance to present a sense of urgency and of the high-speed stress of the job. The music is also a plus, and used in some interesting ways. When Frank comes upon a dead woman lying in a pool of blood, the music overheard is UB40's "Red Red Wine," for instance.

Despite the trailers, though, don't get the idea that this is The Sixth Sense meets "ER," because there are no real ghosts in this movie, only those whose faces Frank sees in his stress, insomnia and alcohol-induced trance throughout the night.

I was upset at the end, though, because it was not a conclusion I could feel good about. Not because there is no smash-'em-up quick and easy resolution because I appreciate that, since such a film doesn't allow it, but I will just say that I was disappointed. Go see it and we'll talk. . .