Comments on: Help me find this movie about an ambulance driver on meth!!!

Question: Help me find this movie about an ambulance driver on meth!!!

krisptoria — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:16:01 -0800

Movie Filter: An ambulance driver, his friend, some meth and/or other drugs. An crusty old guy who is also into drugs and at a nursing home(?). Please help me remember this one!

It is not:
Drugstore Cowboy
Bringing Out the Dead
Spun
The Salton Sea

...or anything that comes up in a search of "ambulance driver meth".

I saw it on HBO maybe 5-7 years ago.

Definitely indie with some Requiem for a Dream qualities to it.

Anyone?

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:22:49 -0800

First thing that came to mind is Bringing Out the Dead.

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:26:32 -0800

More on Martin Scorcese's Bringing Out the Dead.

By: BackwardsCity

BackwardsCity — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:27:23 -0800

I think it may be Jesus's Son, though the character is not an ambulance driver, he's a nurse.

By: krisptoria

krisptoria — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:34:11 -0800

Although Bringing Out The Dead sounds eerily similar, the film I am thinking of was indie, no big name stars and if I recall was set in a warmer locale, maybe LA?

By: krisptoria

krisptoria — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:39:09 -0800

Okay just found it...Broken Vessels

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:40:29 -0800

Was it Broken Vessels?

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:40:43 -0800

What you just said!

By: krisptoria

krisptoria — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:43:50 -0800

Oh and Amazon gives a better description in the customer reviews...here

By: krisptoria

krisptoria — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:44:52 -0800

Thanks for finding it too ericb, it was driving me crazy!

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:55:51 -0800

krisptoria -- you're welcome.

In many reviews the two films are often referenced together and ultimately compared.

Example:

"While Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead had the bigger name cast and (of course) the more arresting visuals, I more greatly appreciated this small, little-seen independent with a similar theme. A new young paramedic (Jason London) is teamed with a veteran (Todd Field), who quickly shows him the ropes--not necessarily of the job, but of his sordid world of drug abuse and sex. Ruin inevitably follows, as does a shot at redemption. Scorsese's film bests writer-director Scott Ziehl's in terms of style, but I found the scaled-down execution here to be a bit more effective considering both films have a small, intimate story to tell. Where Scorsese's film had the flashy array of supporting players, Ziehl's film concentrates on the two characters, and as such the dramatic focus never meanders the way that Dead did, and while both films are fairly obvious in their story's intent, Vessels goes about it in a more subtle way. Also factor in a powerhouse performance (by Field) that Dead lacked, and Broken Vessels makes a quieter but deeper impression."

By: quonsar

quonsar — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 07:28:13 -0800

not Mother, Jugs and Speed? I'm shocked!