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

August 25, 2007 8:16 PM

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?

posted by krisptoria to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

First thing that came to mind is Bringing Out the Dead.
posted by ericb at 8:22 PM on August 25, 2007

More on Martin Scorcese's Bringing Out the Dead.
posted by ericb at 8:26 PM on August 25, 2007

I think it may be Jesus's Son, though the character is not an ambulance driver, he's a nurse.
posted by BackwardsCity at 8:27 PM on August 25, 2007

Response by poster: 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?
posted by krisptoria at 8:34 PM on August 25, 2007

Response by poster: Okay just found it...Broken Vessels
posted by krisptoria at 8:39 PM on August 25, 2007

Best answer: Was it Broken Vessels?
posted by ericb at 8:40 PM on August 25, 2007

What you just said!
posted by ericb at 8:40 PM on August 25, 2007

Response by poster: Oh and Amazon gives a better description in the customer reviews...here
posted by krisptoria at 8:43 PM on August 25, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for finding it too ericb, it was driving me crazy!
posted by krisptoria at 8:44 PM on August 25, 2007

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."

posted by ericb at 8:55 PM on August 25, 2007

not Mother, Jugs and Speed? I'm shocked!
posted by quonsar at 7:28 AM on August 26, 2007