“The Bad Lieutenant” Port of Call New Orleans” is not a remake of the 1992 Abel Ferrera-directed “Bad Lieutenant.” The only similarity is a central character, a cop, who has moved to the dark side, yielding to drug addiction, gambling, and extortion. Nicholas Cage, who can act but hasn’t always in recent films, proves why he won an Oscar for his performance in “Leaving Las Vegas.” His character, Terence McDonagh, is in constant pain as a result of a back injury during Katrina and Cage conveys this through facial expressions and body movement. One shoulder higher than the other, a shuffle as he walks – you just know he hurts. As the movie progresses and Terence spirals out of control, Cage’s over-the-top acting works. However, there’s a lot about this film that doesn’t. There’s a dead alligator in the road, hit by a car, and maybe his friend seeming to smile as he ambles away. There’s a sequence featuring iguanas meant to represent Terence’s drug-induced hallucinations. Director Werner Herzog appears to have a fetish with reptiles, but these are distracting. His key villain, played by Xzibit, is not that scary and although Val Kilmer gets high billing, he’s barely in the movie. Eva Mendes is there to look good; there’s nothing challenging in her role as the clichéd ‘hooker with a heart of gold.’ And what’s with the awkward title? Better to call this movie ‘Port of Call New Orleans.’
This movie was better than I expected because Cage provides a compelling look at how a man’s struggle with pain leads to the slow disintegration of his moral compass. Eventually, doing what’s right means little to him yet he’s a cop and he has a case to solve. So if you decide to see this movie, see it for Cage’s performance, not for the story. 11/22/09
1 comment:
"The Bad Lieutenant" is the latest attempt at bringing back "Film Noir" to the movie theaters. This sort of thing happens every few years because there is always an audience for this genre and I think Werner Herzog has done a credible job of reviving this kind of film. I recommend seeing this dark movie. I enjoyed it.
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