Even the bestMichael Baymovies usually have an asterisk next to them — good, but stupid; good, but too long; good, but too loud or relentless. But there can be no hedging about “Ambulance.” It’s a solid, good movie, and some of what makes it good is what Bay brings to it.
His use of Los Angeles is particularly smart, from the movie’s first overhead shot showing the various highways circulating, recirculating and spinning off of one another. It’s twilight, so the headlights are on. It all looks stark and inhuman, not without a peculiar beauty, but menacing. And throughout the movie, Bay has a way of lingering on a marquee sign or a city block, and then swooping down like a bird onto a closer shot of what’s going on in the street.
Los Angeles has always been the most modern of American cities, not because of its ideas or fashions, but because it’s the city where the past matters least, where nobody cares even about last week. This makes it the perfect location for any rumination on a contemporary American gone wrong, and if that happens to take the form of a riveting action thriller, all the better.
Based on a 2005 Danish film of the same name — the Danes don’t mess around; they know how to make crime thrillers — “Ambulance” sets out the high stakes in the opening minutes. Will (former San Francisco city plannerYahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a Marine veteran, whose wife has cancer and needs an experimental treatment. But his health care plan won’t pay for it, so he goes to his bank-robbing brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal) and asks for a loan of more than $200,000. Danny makes him an even better offer. It just so happens that Danny and his gang are off to rob a bank to the tune of $32 million, and they need an extra man.
This is where Chris Fedak’s screenplay is put to the test and passes. He puts enough strong arguments in Danny’s mouth that you not only believe that Will would be persuaded to rob a bank, but you also believeyouwould. It took until now to realize it, but Jake Gyllenhaal could pretty much talkanybodyinto robbing a bank.
He’s terrific in this, likable and twisted, warm and sociopathic. Abdul-Mateen is equally effective in the less flashy role of an average decent guy who buys the wrong ticket and has to take the ride. But the big pleasant surprise of “Ambulance” is Eiza González, who until now has been cast decoratively; that is, on the basis of her looks. Here she excels in the dramatic role of an EMT who tries to save a patient’s life while her ambulance is being hijacked by the robbers.
González is so powerful in this that by the time the credits roll, the thought crosses the mind: Hers isn’t the supporting role. She’s the star of the movie.
From its quick launch, “Ambulance” never stops. About an hour in, however, the movie starts hinting at the possibility of becoming monotonous. Yet it doesn’t get there. Essentially, “Ambulance” is a car chase that goes on for two hours, and it would be reasonable to wonder how it could maintain interest all that time, especially when you consider that the original Danish film was only 80 minutes long.
Well, watch and you’ll see. There’s enough variation and suspense, enough complication in the form of other characters with other concerns, that “Ambulance” stays fresh until the finish.
M“Ambulance”:Drama. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González. Directed by Michael Bay. (R. 136 minutes.) In theaters Friday, April 8.