CODE 3

Code 3 creates an outrageously hilarious and cynical commentary on the shortcomings of the modern health care system, specifically the underappreciated first responder paramedics, but with the excellent performances of Rainn Wilson and Aimee Carrero leading the film, its cynicism breaks down and champions the valiant efforts of first responders in one of the year’s most surprisingly moving films.

Front line health care workers are the unsung heroes of our society, something that the public was reminded of greatly during the pandemic. Hospital dramas have been a staple of episodic storytelling with iconic dramas like ER and Grey’s Anatomy, and most recently with the critically acclaimed The Pitt. But storytelling in the medical realm has largely revolved around doctors and hospital staff, not normally focusing on the team of professionals who are more often than not the first ones on the scene: paramedics. For his second film, writer and director Christopher Leone turns his attention to paramedics within the American health care system, chronicling the day in the life of a paramedic on the last ever shift of his career. While the film hyperbolizes the comedy that is excellently delivered by the main cast of Rainn Wilson, Lil Rel Howery, Aimee Carrero, Yvette Nicole Brown and Rob Riggle, Leone and his co-writer Patrick Pianezza weaponize the comedic moments to deliver a critical commentary about the imperfect healthcare system too often bogged down by bureaucracy and liability, and the importance of the caring individuals who push back against it to save lives on a daily basis.

Code 3: an urgent emergency response using lights and sirens. It is a message sent out along airwaves to notify other first responders and the public of a high priority first responder inbound and to clear out of the way. Riding along with paramedic Randy Gray on his final shift, Leone and Pianezza capture the unpredictability of responding to a code 3, tension between health care workers and the public’s disenchantment with paramedics in the screenplay with an unchecked chaos. It’s all generated using moments of heightened comedy, making jokes about absurd moments that Randy and his fellow paramedics experience on their shift, such as the warring care home workers who refuse to admit their resident has been dead for hours to avoid taking on the responsibility of the death, or the idea that paramedics will not stop CPR on a patient until they are delivered to the hospital, even if they are clearly dead, just to ensure that the paperwork for the death falls on the hospital and not the paramedics. This dark humour, while generating some hilarious moments for viewers, illustrates the shortcomings of the system that paramedics and health care providers have to work within, without even having to greatly touch upon the extra complexity of the “for profit” healthcare system and medical insurance issues in the United States.

As jaded as the film starts off and the tone of the screenplay seems to take on the subject matter, Leone and Pianezza shift from this critical commentary on the restrictions of the medical system to the resilience and care of the paramedics working within its confines. While masked by the comedy to begin with, this respect for paramedics who are just trying to save lives begins to break through the cynicism as Jessica begins to understand why Randy is so disillusioned with his job and dying to escape from it, as his heart and desire to save lives and do right by the sick and injured in a system that doesn’t necessarily have the same noble aspirations as him has slowly eroded his spirit. It is in the film’s latter half where this focus comes to the forefront where the heart of Leone and Pianezza’s writing rings loud and clear, creating an emotional reckoning for both the film’s characters and viewers, delivering a far more moving and reflective film than the comedy audiences thought they were sitting down to watch… in the best way imaginable.

As genius as the film’s writing is, it is the performance of Wilson as Randy that allows Leone’s vision for this film to truly come to life. Best known by viewers as Dwight from The Office, it comes as no surprise that Wilson revels in the screenplay’s more cynical comedic moments as Randy’s jaded disregard for the system bursts across the screen as he counts down the minutes left working as a paramedic while training the newcomer to the team, Jessica. But even as he hurls insults, yells and storms around, every decision Wilson makes is built around the broken spirit within Randy as he knows that the system will continuously work against him as he tries to save lives. It’s masterful work by Wilson, ensuring by the time Jessica and the audience catches up with the internal emotional state of his character, Wilson is guaranteed to tug on the audiences’ heartstrings with his incredibly moving performance.

Matching Wilson at every turn is Carrero as Jessica, the new trainee under Randy’s guidance. Incredibly insightful and optimistically passionate about how the system works, the care and tenderness that Carrero brings to Jessica balances the disillusionment of Wilson’s Randy. It’s a crucial performance to the film, as Carrero becomes the audience’s gateway to the system and slowly reveals to them how it works against itself as she experiences this first hand, helping to ground the film despite its absurd and over the top comedic moments. Howery rounds out the film’s main trio, matching both Wilson’s uncontrollable comedic energy but finding the middle ground between Randy and Jessica’s views on the system, bringing a care and compassion to the film despite knowing his character is going to encounter constant resistance. And while their screen time is more limited being in supporting roles, Brown and Riggle are both scene stealers in the film. Brown’s mixture of sass and heart leads to some wonderful moments as Randy’s dispatcher Shanice who is not afraid to call out Randy’s nonsense, but will do anything for her team; while Riggle’s outrageous comedy and bombastically loud presence never fails to deliver big laughs as Dr. Serano at the same time as magnifying the differing attitudes between health care workers to drive home the underappreciation of paramedics at the centre of the film’s story.

Using its comedic moments to great effect to emphasize the shortcomings of the medical system that makes it harder for paramedics to operate within, Christopher Leone and Patrick Pianezza manage to say something profound about the bureaucracy within the health care system while championing the tireless efforts and boundless care of paramedics in Code 3. Fuelled by the absolutely hilarious yet deeply vulnerable performance of Rainn Wilson, while audiences will expect a deeply funny comedy about everything that can go wrong for paramedics trying to save lives on the job, what they are treated too in Code 3  is something far more moving and powerful as the comedy propels a timely and important exploration of the medical system and the valiant efforts of paramedics operating within its restrictive confines.