Rainn Wilson plays a burnt-out paramedic who gets a new job in an insurance firm. We follow him as he goes through his last day with his partner and a student ride along.
Wow and WOW.
Where did this gem of a film come from? More to the point
why didn’t a big studio pick this up? This is a wicked little comedy drama that
hits every point dead on perfectly. There is a glorious humanity to the film that
you don’t usually see in films these days. Yes, it takes people like officious
doctors and administrators who want to cover their asses down a peg or two, but
mostly this is just good time with good people.
I grew up in a house where my parents were EMTs and AMTs. My
dad went out on the ambulance to rescue calls, and my mom taught the classes
and did occasional shifts in ERs, so I heard stories of the things that happened
and based on those stories this film feels right. Additionally, the film echoes some of the
great cinematic ambulance films of the past, in just the right way.
I laughed and I was moved. While Wilson plays his role with
a large amount of snark, he also has endless hope and humanity. He gets pissed
off when people do the wrong things or treat the injured badly. We can feel his
burn-out because he wears it like armor.
I’ve seen this film a couple times now and I have loved it
each time. To be certain the film is cinematic in that it compresses things more
than they would be for 24 hours and there are a couple of turns that might be
too Hollywood, but the film is so damn good that we give it the slack. Besides
the Hollywood moments give us a bit of catharsis.
I love this movie a great deal. I can see it becoming a big
hit once people discover it.
Highly recommended- look for it to be talked about for years
to come.
Can you submit this to Rotten Tomatoes to help raise the critic score please :)
ReplyDeleteIf you can get me on to rotten tomatoes I will gladly do so. The issue is I write for my own site so they won't take me- despite being in critics groups and other things
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