Interestingly enough I was certified as an EMT in July of 1976. Much of what takes place in the movie was hype with some basis in fact. During this time EMS was in flux. The requirement for EMT certification went into effect in California in July of 1976. Between then and 1986 when I left the business due to injury, tons of things changed. In those years Paramedic Certification became universal, companies merged and merged again, working conditions improved dramatically (my hours were cut in half and my pay doubled). Generally everything in private EMS became much more professional. And women became commonplace. Few industries changed so quickly.I might say that to a lesser degree, the same thing happened during the same time frame with Fire Departments, especially Rural, Volunteer and Reserve Departments.What I like the most is the portrayal of what EMS workers go through, including the risks they take and the emotions the experience.All in all, it's one of my favorite films!

Long before weary, burnt-out Nicholas Cage trolled around a crack-ravaged Hell's Kitchen in search of spiritual redemption in Martin Scorsese's hauntingly gloomy "Bringing Out the Dead" the choice happening trio of Billy Cosby, Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel pounded an outrageously freaky, stressful and eventful Los Angeles beat as harried paramedics working for a low-rent ambulance service in this darkly humorous, often quirky and hugely underrated "M.A.S.H."-style seriocomic sleeper.Bill Cosby, prior to his sad degeneration into terminally cutesy middle-of-the-road blandness in the 80's with the lamentable "The Cosby Show," is in fine, funky form as hip, assured, sardonic crackerjack wheelman and smartaleck supreme Mother (next to the super, hard-boiled, unjustly neglected private eye picture "Hickey and Boggs" this flick rates as the coolest feature the Cos ever acted in), the phenomenally gorgeous Raquel Welch excels in an all-too-rare substantial part as stand-offish, yet still desirable dispatcher Jugs, and Harvey Keitel contributes his usual solid performance as moody ex-cop Speed. The eclectic supporting cast is likewise smack dab on the money excellent: Allen Garfield as the antsy, frazzle-nerved ambulance service owner, Larry Hagman as a smarmy, desperate libidinous loser, Bruce Davison as a naive rookie, L.Q. Jones as a laid-back local lawman, Toni Basil as a shotgun-wielding heroin addict, Dick Butkus as an amiable good ol' boy cowboy, and the ever-divine Severn Darden doing a deft reprise of his shameless shyster lawyer role from "Cisco Pike."Director Peter Yates, working from Tom Mankiewicz's sharp, brash, wildly episodic script, keeps the pace storming along at a furiously dynamic clip, staging car crashes with considerable aplomb and boldly veering the tone from hilariously raucous to alarmingly serious with frequently on-target, sometimes surprising and always genuinely eccentric results. Ralph Woolsey's glittering nighttime cinematography and the groovy, lively, pulsating soul score vividly capture the harrowing nonstop lunacy of both inner city blight and the intrinsic highly intensified pressure found in the paramedic profession. The loose, easy and funny camaraderie between Cosby, Welch and Keitel in particular really hits the spot something sweet. There's no denying that they make for a pretty unlikely threesome -- and it's the very oddballness of this engagingly flaky bunch which in turn gives the film its irresistibly off-center appeal.

A buried treasure to sure. MOTHER, JUGS AND SPEED is the best movie Raquel Welch ever made and for that matter, it's Bill Cosby's finest celluloid outing as well. Cosby is Mother, Harvey Keitel is Speed and Welch naturally, is Jugs. They work as EMTs for an unsavory ambulance company owner --- played with full on bluster by the reliable Allen Garfield --- along with an assortment of odd-balls including Larry Hagman as a callous, would be womanizer, Bruce Davison as a pot head, and the always goofy Valerie Curtin as the frazzled dispatcher.With it's occasionally brutal scenes --- including one ambulance call that goes especially wrong --- interwoven with a lot of laughs, MJS wants to be M*A*S*H for the EMT crowd, but it rarely reaches that level of subversiveness. It is, however, a fun and first rate piece of entertainment. The cast is excellent with Hagman standing out among the supporting players. Directed, surprisingly, by the classy Peter Yates.

Black comedy, about a ragtag ambulance company out of Los Angeles battling their competitors while picking up an eclectic group of needy passengers, could best be described as schizophrenic (quirky bordering on outrageous). It manages to match its silly, yet surprisingly catchy, title with a well-written script and an excellent cast. Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel make up an easy starring trio (another surprise), and Welch in particular seems extremely comfortable in the chaotic surroundings. Supporting players Allen Garfield, Valerie Curtin and Dick Butkis as the Texan are all fun, though there's perhaps too much of live-wire Larry Hagman (having a permanent meltdown). Peter Yates directed, and while he's quick on his feet he's not always adept at managing the viewer's responses through the morass; these entangled vignettes needed a bit more subtlety and class. Still, there are big laughs in the picture, a few tender moments, not to mention Los Angeles looking bright-and-shiny. I saw this in the theater in 1976, and the audience--probably having expected a full-on slapstick comedy--filed out looking bewildered. The movie wasn't ahead of its time ("MASH" prepared us for this messy mix of dark laughs), but it seems to play better today than it did upon its release. Remade as a TV-movie in 1978 (with an extra 'g' in Jugs). **1/2 from ****