On earth as it is in hell

Broken Vessels Directed by Scott Ziehl

A-Pix Entertainment, on worldwide general release

Bringing Out the Dead Directed by Martin Scorsese

Touchstone Pictures, on worldwide general release

Two recent films, Broken Vessels and Bringing Out the Dead, portray the lives of those who work for the emergency medical services in urban America. Or at least they claim to.

Broken Vessels tells the story of Tom (Jason London), an emergency medical technician who arrives in Los Angeles while trying to escape his past in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He lands a job as an ambulance driver and is teamed up with Jimmy (Todd Field), a senior Los Angeles paramedic whose best skill seems to be snatching his sunglasses off his face and trying to look cool.

Ten minutes into the movie the two are drinking alcohol, picking up women, having sex, buying heroin on the street corner, and getting high. All of this happens while they are …