Alright, let’s get this out of the way like hundreds of reviews before this one and hundreds after it; Werner Herzog’s “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” is not a remake of Abel Ferrara’s 1992 film “Bad Lieutenant” which as a friend of mine pointed out “made ‘Taxi Driver’ look like ‘Alice In Wonderland’.” The only thing that these films have in common with each other is they have a main character who is a police lieutenant with serious gambling and drug addictions that sink them down into a world of immorality. Other than that, these are completely different cinematic works which somehow ended up with the same darn title. Comparing the two, while in some respects inevitable, does neither film any favors. If you do find me comparing them to each other, it is truly an accident (I understand if you don’t buy that). My guess is that the “Bad Lieutenant” title was chosen for commercial purposes, and that’s regardless of the fact that Ferrara’s film found a bigger audience on video and DVD than any NC-17 movie could ever hope to find in theaters (assuming if any near you dared play it).
Before I continue, I have to confess that this film is the very first feature length movie from Werner Herzog that I have ever seen. Yes, I did see his “Grizzly Man” and “Encounters at the End of the World,” but they were both documentaries (brilliant ones might I add). Being the big movie buff that I am, you will probably find this to be unbelievable and shameful on my part (it probably is). But on the upside, you won’t have to worry about me comparing this film to all his others he has made in a long and acclaimed career. Odds are that it might suffer compared to his other works, so be thankful I’m not stuck doing that here. From what I have heard, Herzog’s films deal with human psyches in a most extreme and uncontrollable state, so his “Bad Lieutenant” must be right up his alley in terms of themes he has dealt with throughout his career. It also allows Nicholas Cage a role where he can (and does he ever) go full out crazy in the only way an actor like him can. This is the kind of performance Cage is famous for, and the likes of which we have been denied for far too long.
Cage stars as Terence McDonagh who, when we first see him, is a sergeant with the
Terence starts off being prescribed Vicodin by his less than hopeful doctor, something I had when I got my wisdom teeth taken out, and which my mother became terrified I would get addicted to. It’s all downhill from there as the lieutenant quickly moves from Vicodin to cocaine, and then to crack or whatever else he can smuggle out of the evidence room. Just when you think McDonagh could not sink any deeper, he does. Then he hits rock bottom when he gets involved with local drug dealer Big Fate played by rapper Xzibit, looking far more lively here than he did in “The X-Files: I Want To Believe.” By collaborating with Big Fate, Terence hopes to pay off his mounting debts he brought upon himself by betting on the wrong damn teams. Throughout this twisted voyage of his, he is also met by a pair of iguanas who keep following him. Of course, no one can see these scaly animals except him.
As dark and immoral as the plot and the characters of this movie are, I actually found it to be shockingly funny. Seriously, “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” has moments that were so laugh out loud funny, I almost couldn’t believe how much I was enjoying myself while watching this. It’s like Werner Herzog took the original “Bad Lieutenant” and subtracted all the Catholic guilt and angst and replaced it with a heap of bizarre black comedy that seemed never ending. What’s on display here gives “Observe and Report,” a movie that has grown on me a lot since I saw it, a big run for its money in the perversely funny department. The audience I saw it with at Landmark Theatres in
But the big delight I got out of “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” is seeing Nicholas Cage acting in a totally unhinged state like he was doing a sequel to “Wild at Heart.” Maybe I’ve been too hard on Nic Cage lately, but this feels like such a welcome return to form for him. Actually, he was really good in a movie that came out earlier this year (“Knowing”), but this collaboration with Werner Herzog brings Nic back to the kind of role he does best. From “Leaving Las Vegas” to “Face/Off,” Cage proved to be a master of over the top performances infused with endless creativity. This was long before he did movies where he was just over the top, or went after one “National Treasure” too many. But here, Werner sets him loose to play a character whose mind is in a constant state of implosion that exposes a soul most corrupted.
One key scene which does look like it was taken from Abel’s film is when Terence pulls over a young couple who are about to drive home from a club. Nicholas plays the scene straight as he gets from these two what he wants and knows they have on them. Cage suddenly switches gears when the lady gives him a hit from what she is smoking (either marijuana or something much stronger), and he ends up making out with her while her stunned schmuck of a boyfriend watches. The scene is almost as horrifying as it is hilarious, assuming this debauchery is your kind of entertainment. You’re not really laughing at what he is doing as much as you do at the fact that he is debasing himself without a care in the world. Only an actor as risk taking and reckless as Cage could possibly sell us on such a scene.
So what’s Herzog’s “Bad Lieutenant” really all about? I’m not entirely sure. It could be that the director is looking at a man whose soul is as toxic as the water that submerged much of
Nicholas Cage is also surrounded by a good cast of actors who do memorable work here as well. It was nice to see Brad Dourif here, having seen and liked him not too long ago in Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II,” as Terence’s bookie whom he is heavily in debt to. Val Kilmer is very good as Terence’s corrupt partner, and that’s even if he has to stand in the shadow of Cage throughout (I hope Val was alright with that). I have to say I was very surprised to Jennifer Coolidge cast as Terence’s stepmother. Having seen Jennifer in so many comic roles that she was funny as hell in, it was interesting to see her to take on something different and more dramatic. Vondie Curtis-Hall appears as well playing Terence’s chief, and Tom Bower rounds out the cast by portraying his alcoholic father.
Eva Mendes is also on board here as the bad lieutenant’s prostitute girlfriend, Frankie. She previously co-starred with Nicholas Cage in “Ghost Rider,” a movie I’m not really sure I want to see. As Frankie, Eva plays the same kind of role she played in “We Own The Night”; a party girl whose boyfriend (played by Joaquin Phoenix before he went nuts) supplies her with all the fun and drugs she ever needs. I haven’t seen her in many movies she has appeared in, so I’m not sure if her range is limited to roles based on her gorgeous body, or if she has not been given the opportunity to stretch beyond that. On the basis of her performance here, I think she should get stronger opportunites because she plays off of the other actors very well, and she makes the transition from being selfish to being saved from herself effectively believable.
Herzog gives this film a rough and dirty look which all but suits the characters and the sleaze they involve themselves in. This whole shebang could have been ruined if he shot the whole thing in high definition, for it would have made things look too tidy. I could see all these hardcore movie buffs go after Werner Herzog and accuse him of selling out if he did that, but I believe he is one of the very few directors incapable of doing so. This is not a movie you want to look all smoothed over and polished at the surface. It requires an atmosphere thick with humidity and with slime dripping off of everything as it eats away what is left. For all I know right now, Herzog is not a director who is even remotely interested in sweetening up story and characters in order to make his movies more available to a mainstream audience.
“Bad Lieutenant:
***½ out of ****
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