CAST THRIVES UNDER SCORSESE IN `BRINGING OUT THE DEAD'.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

Ambulance driver Frank Pierce is having trouble sleeping, and it's easy to understand why. Frank works the graveyard shift, cruising the hellish streets of New York night after night, and through his window he sees the hookers and the junkies, the homeless and the mentally ill. But those visions aren't the ones haunting him. It's the ghosts of the people Frank couldn't help that have him on the verge of a nervous breakdown - or worse.

In this respect, Frank bears some resemblance to Travis Bickle, the troubled insomniac from ``Taxi Driver,'' the landmark collaboration between director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader. But in their new film, ``Bringing Out the Dead,'' the protagonist is obsessed with redemption, not retribution. And he's just as much of a casualty as the people he tries to save.

``Bringing Out the Dead'' doesn't approach ``Taxi Driver'' in terms of brilliance. This is a minor work from the master, which still makes it a must-see movie for serious filmgoers. Its dark, desperate humor recalls Scorsese's little gem, ``After Hours,'' another film where events unfold in an increasingly surreal fashion. Fans of ``ER'' should brace themselves. Things get a little messy here.

The film takes place over three nights in the life of Frank (played with a dazed dementia by Nicolas Cage), a burned-out believer badly in need of a vacation. No such luck. He can't even quit his job; New York's Emergency Medical Service needs warm bodies to revive the cold bodies.

Frank hasn't saved anyone in months. Increasingly, he doubts his ability to make a difference, believing his job has come to be less about saving lives than bearing witness to death. ``I am a grief mop,'' he says somberly.

Even when Frank does revive someone, as he does in the film's opening moments, it brings little relief. The man he saved, Mr. Burke, remains little more than a vegetable whose voice finds Frank every time he brings another victim to the hospital. But that pales next to the vision of Rose, the young woman he failed to save, the young woman he sees on every street corner as he makes his rounds.

Into this recurring nightmare comes a little relief: Mary Burke (Patricia Arquette), the daughter of the heart-attack victim Frank brought into the emergency room. Frank runs into her in the waiting room while she's keeping vigil, and in offering her comfort, he finds some peace of his own. Unfortunately for Frank, such moments are short-lived. The soothing spell is broken when he's forced to answer another call.

Arquette is quite good, and the film, like every Scorsese picture, is full of other wonderful supporting turns. John Goodman, Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore play Frank's driving partners during the film's three nights, each character coping with the stresses of the job in a different fashion. Goodman's paramedic tries detachment, Rhames' finds Jesus, and Sizemore's takes out his angst with his fists.

Also shining: Mary Beth Hurt as a lecturing nurse; Afemo Omilami as the hospital guard with the cool sunglasses (don't make him take them off!); and singer Marc Anthony, surprisingly affecting as a mental patient who pops up seemingly wherever Frank goes.

Schrader has pared Joe Connelly's novel for the screen, keeping the details (Connelly knew his stuff; he was a paramedic), but giving it a cohesiveness that it lacked in print. Anyone disappointed by the book should see the movie. It's grim and gripping, harrowing and hallucinogenic. Not a bad ride at all.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Bringing Out the Dead'' (R; gritty, violent content, drug use and language).

The stars: Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Martin Scorsese. Screenplay by Paul Schrader, based on the novel by Joe Connelly. Released by Paramount Pictures.

Running time: Two hours.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three stars.