Product: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans [Blu-ray] (2009)
Rating: 5.0
Shoot him again...his soul is still dancing
I have to say this is Nicolas Cage's better performances in a while, reminds me of early Cage, that he can actually do a good movie and not Hollywood fluff, plus doesn't hurt when teaming up with an intriguing, genius, masterful story teller, visual director as Herzog.But this Bad Lieutenant is far far different than the gritty, dark, depressing original, played by perfection by Keitel.Cage plays a New Orleans cop Terence McDonagh who is addicted to painkillers, cocaine, just drugs in general, likes to gamble, has a prostitute g/f (Eva Mendes), has a recovering alcoholic father. He roams New Orleans basically free, wielding badge and gun (.44 magnum that he tucks in his belt)and steals from junkies, or he is taking drugs from the police evidence room. He plays the role on such a fine line where it doesn't seem he is "over acting" or being over the top, a perfect performance, as he tries to solve a murder of a family and bring in a suspected drug king pin played by Xzibit. We see McDonagh go through police procedures all while coked up. Unlike Keitel he isn't an amoral cop, he is smart and believe it or not does seem to have some morals somewhere in his soul. McDonagh is a street wise, smart, crooked, junkie cop, he's in his own surreal world.He plays the tormented cop very well, always on edge, off kilter, then has some somber moments, again great acting performance by Cage.Herzog's direction here is great, some will argue basically nothing is happening in this movie, no violence, we watch Cage solving this murder, going from Point A to Point B. Herzog's direction is tight, and the way he lets some scenes linger on a crocodile and the iguanas it was weird, and yet surreal, almost as if we now see what McDonagh is going through while all doped up and working.I felt the original was awesome, a masterful movie but yet so dark, so sad, but unflinching, and depressing, this Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans didn't leave me with that feeling, it was Cage's performance that hooked me and had me laughing at some of the crazy scenes. If anything worth checking out for Cage's performance