By Gill Pringle
It was in the early days of the pandemic, and Michael Bay was eager to break loose, searching for a project that would allow him to do a fast and tight shoot during COVID-19 lockdown protocols. Having directed blockbusters like the Transformers franchise, Armageddon, Bad Boys, Pearl Harbor and The Rock, Bay had long ago re-located to Miami where he has produced scores of movies, but directed just two in the last decade. “I was writing a big script and I was tired of staying home, when I said to my agent, ‘I just want something that’s small and intense’, and he sent me this,” recalls Bay, referring to Chris Fedak’s script for Ambulance, a re-take on Laurits Munch-Petersen and Lars Andreas Pederson’s script for the Danish thriller Amublancen.
“I started rejiggering the script,” Bay continues. “What I liked about it was that it’s a very intense movie; it’s a study in intensity. What would it feel like if you are in a heist on a crime that goes really bad, really fast? If you were the hostage or the bank robber or the other bank robber doing something noble to save his wife? What would it feel like? And the movie just keeps going. It almost feels like real time because we all fantasise like, ‘What would it be like if someone took me hostage?’ And I think everyone’s all fantasised about the other side of the story: I think that it would be fun to rob a bank!”
But it is far from fun for the characters in Bay’s Ambulance, where everything that can possibly go wrong, does go wrong. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen, Aquaman, Us, Candyman, The Matrix Resurrections) and Eiza Gonzalez (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Baby Driver), at the centre of this heist is Abdul-Mateen’s decorated war veteran Will Sharp who, desperate for money to cover his wife’s medical bills, asks for help from the one person who he knows he shouldn’t trust – his adopted brother, Danny (Gyllenhaal). A charismatic career criminal, Danny instead offers him a score: the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history: US$32 million. But when their getaway goes spectacularly wrong, the desperate brothers hijack an ambulance with a wounded cop clinging to life with Gonzalez’ paramedic onboard.
If Bay is often known as a “star-maker” – propelling newbies Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox to stardom in his 2007 action film Transformers – then Gyllenhaal seems like an unlikely candidate for a Bay film. Yet the role intrigued Oscar nominee Gyllenhaal on multiple levels. “My question for myself when I was reading the script was, ‘Is there a real relationship in the midst of this? Are there emotional stakes?’” says the actor. “I also loved Danny because he read like a fun character. I like walking that line between the audience caring about someone and then also being a little bit afraid of them. Through conversations with Michael, we wanted to create a relationship that felt like a real brother dynamic, full of all the messiness and love that those relationships have.”
Born and raised in Los Angeles together with his sister Maggie, Gyllenhaal was also keen to explore Bay’s new take on the city, having already looked into different aspects of LA with his films Nightcrawler and The Guilty. “When we made Nightcrawler, I had never spent so many nights, all through the night, in the city,” the actor explains. “It’s a very different city at night. Los Angeles gets a bit of a bad rap of being this expansive place that doesn’t seem to have a centre; that’s the common adage and, for me, what I’ve learned, having grown up here and then also having the privilege to work here, is that it’s such a deep, rich culture. There’s so much diversity, and there are incredible opportunities to learn. You’ve got to go all over to see it. And the thing I loved about shooting this all over downtown Los Angeles is how there’s a massive food culture and just so much beautiful diversity and that’s what I love about LA. And I also love the idea in this movie of how you can just drive and be with yourself. And people with no car culture know that that’s invaluable and very special, and this city is all of that.”
With just 39 days to shoot Ambulance, Gyllenhaal and Abdul-Mateen immediately bonded as on-screen brothers, their chemistry very evident on screen. When asked about what attracted him to the movie, Abdul-Mateen says, “Honestly, it was the combination of Michael, Jake and also there were some whispers that Michael wanted to do something different with this. And so I was much more interested in what was going to take place inside of the ambulance, knowing that he was going to handle all the power techniques and everything on the outside. I was far more interested in the opportunities and the stories that were taking place on the inside. It was a pretty intriguing combination.”
Gonzalez, meanwhile, was drawn to the emotional toll and impact that the film’s events have on her character. “Cam is on the go consistently, but she doesn’t let people in or out,” says the actress. “She lives on the high, and she keeps on chasing that; eventually, it catches up with her. Seeing that breaking moment was so interesting. In filmed stories, we often see that beautiful side of the paramedics, but we never see the other side of the breakdown…or the emotional part of their lives that makes them lose themselves.”
She also appreciated that Cam is a fully realized character in her own right, rather than a plot device to prop up a male protagonist. “We rarely get to see a female character who has to make a decision between her own life and others,” argues González. “It’s usually a love-induced story or something like, ‘You have no other choice as a woman.’ This is more honorable, and Cam chooses herself and her patient.”
To prepare for the role, González worked closely with RN and paramedic consultant Dannie Wurtz, who not only trained her on the precision and detail of attending to a critical patient in a moving ambulance, but inspired her with her passion and commitment. “It was so cool to see a woman that has made her way through this wild business and saved so many lives,” says González. “She has kept that spark going and that love for what she does. That brought a lot to Cam and really helped me to shape her as a character.”
The shoot was unlike any that González had experienced before. “You’re covered in dirt, sweat and blood, and it feels so real,” she recalls. “It’s hard to think of acting and lines while your body’s going a thousand miles per hour. It was raining, air was blasting in our faces, and we were scared. It became difficult to think of intentions for the scene, but that is why this was the best experience for me. I hope that people enjoy it because we have put our heart, blood, sweat and tears into this. Everyone was on their A-game – from our crew and stunt team to the cast. It was a lot of dedication and love.”
Gyllenhaal responded to Gonzalez’ strength and drive. “Cam is so strong and defiant,” he says. “For Danny, she is a wild card and someone he can’t control, and that’s beyond frustrating to him. I love having Eiza at the centre of the story, playing a woman who doesn’t take crap from anyone.”
Prior to the shoot, Gonzalez had just previously recovered from COVID-19, and the film proved to be cathartic. “The pandemic had its ups and downs for me, and going through COVID myself, and then recovering and then losing female family members from COVID, was really, really hard,” she says. “It was an intense process, but ultimately, I came out of it just feeling that my biggest lesson was really to be grateful for every little moment that I had. I wanted to live fully the way that I want to be living. It really reminded us all that life is out of our control and things happen and we just have to lead our lives as truthfully as possible.”
Ambulance is in cinemas now. Click here for our review.
