Product: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans [Blu-ray] (2009)
Rating: 4.0
This ain't no Mayberry...
This is New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina. This is the city where Lt. Terence McDonagh works. He's not afraid to torture an old lady to get what he wants. He's not afraid to have sex with a girl outside a club just to confiscate the drugs in her purse. Nor is he afraid to risk his life in the call of higher justice. And when a family is murdered, he's royally pissed. Or maybe he's just looking to score a cheap high.THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL-NEW ORLEANS is not for everyone. It's not your average cop movie; there is very little to like in Terence, who in the hands of Nicholas Cage comes across as a needy, sadistic, drug-addicted purveyor of law and order. Sure, he's got a couple redeeming features; he'll do the right thing, eventually, if enough innocent people get hurt. In the hands of Nicholas Page (finally displaying his immense talent, after several years of slacking), Terence is strangely likable, and yet you're always afraid of what he'll do next. His friends aren't much better; his girlfriend (a haunting Eva Mendes) is a druggie and prostitute; and his partner (Val Kilmer, showing a fine return to form and grossly underused) is almost as crazy as he is.Werner Herzog's direction is at times a bit too trippy for its own good; we get lingering shots of nonexistent iguanas and dancing souls that are absolutely hilarious at first; but the shots stretch on too long, and the humor is lost. Yet, when the film hits the right notes, it's almost like nothing you've ever seen before. You HAVE seen it--numerous times--but the fact that the film comes off as original is truly impressive. We can thank Nic Cage for that; his energetic, over-the-top performance roots this film in irreality, giving it that hard, dark edge that we don't get much of anymore. Watch this film at your own risk; you may come away thinking "what the hell"...but you may come away thoroughly impressed, as well.