Nicolas Cage’s paramedic character in Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead is named Frank. The full character name is Frank Pierce, a burned-out emergency medical technician working night shifts in New York City. The film follows his increasingly intense experiences as he responds to crises across Manhattan.
Bringing Out the Dead was adapted from Joe Connelly’s 1998 novel. Connelly drew on his own experience as a New York City emergency medical technician, giving the story an unusually detailed view of ambulance work, exhaustion, addiction, and compassion under pressure. Paul Schrader wrote the screenplay, continuing his long creative association with Scorsese.
The movie was released in 1999 and features Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames, and Tom Sizemore as Frank’s fellow paramedics and acquaintances. Its episodic structure reflects the rhythms of emergency calls rather than a conventional crime plot. Frank’s first name is easy to confuse with the names of his rotating partners, but Frank Pierce is the central character throughout the film.