Bad Lieutenant - Cop ohne Gewissen

I just watched this at London Film Festival & went in expecting to hate it as I loved the original. But I have to say, the film is excellent, certainly Cage's best film & best performance since Leaving Las Vegas. Herzog has done a brilliant job & the film stands on it's own, apart from the Ferrara film. I won't spoil bits by mentioning them, but the film has several stand-out memorable scenes worth the price of admission alone. Herzog has always said that training for making films is 'life' not a stuffy film studies class etc. If you're familiar with his work or sensibilities, you'll get even more insight into how cool this guy is after watching this film. I look fwd to watching it again when it releases and getting the DVD!!

One thing you can always count on when you go into a Werner Herzog movie is that you can always expect to find a story surrounding a very bizarre individual. With Bad Lieutenant, I saw both Herzog and Nicholas Cage in a new light, or rather a new darkness. Labeled as a black comedy, there should be more emphasis on 'black' than on 'comedy'. The film bears a strong resemblance to the thematically surreal and contrived nature of a Coen Brothers film, but the difference is that this one is more character driven than plot driven. More specifically, this is a film that lives on one performance. Nicholas Cage for the first time in a while has done something worthy of recognition, possibly even award worthy.

He plays New Orleans cop Terence McDonagh, recently promoted to Lieutenant. The film follows his latest homicide investigation. Due to a back problem and a drug addiction he is grumpy and unstable. He is sort of an anti- American hero, and the film concludes on a very bizarre note but clever anti- conventional/Hollywood manner.

Though not Herzog's best, it is certainly one worth watching. With each film I see from him, past or present he continues to intrigue me, but I think in this case, it might be Nicholas Cage who deserves the most credit.

Many will look at this and will think that it is an action thriller about a cop trying to solve the murders of 5 people in New Orleans and that is a basic idea of what the film is about. 'Trying' is right word to use; Nicolas Cage's characters is deeply flawed and is taking drugs to ease his back pain, which he got for saving a prisoner in a flooded prison. He has no interest in bringing the people responsible to justice.

It is difficult to describe what happens in the film because it is so different from other films that I have seen. If you have seen Werner Herzog's other films then you will like this maybe not as much as some of his other films but there is a lot to like. Nicolas Cage gives a fantastic performance and is clearly back on form after the likes of Next, National Treasure and The Wicker Man. The rest of the cast also do a good job but the focus is on Cage. The chosen location of New Orleans suits the film well and the cinematographer does a good job showing it. The script writer must also be credited for providing the film with interesting pieces of dialogue even though its difficult to tell what was improvised and what was not.

This film is not for everyone though since the trailer shows it as a more of an crime thriller than a drama. If you are not a fan of art house films or films that have an offbeat sense of humor then you might not enjoy it as much as those who do. Those who watch this film and liked it will be able to find plenty of things about the film that represent something else. There is clearly more to this film than what is happening on the surface.

If you do choose to watch this film then go in with an open mind as there is a lot to like but I can't guarantee that it will be for everyone.

This movie is filled with humor and turns, it's jazzy and entertaining but not that similar to Abel Ferrara's 1992 story, in spite of the title. It features a wonderful and very much involved performance from Nicholas Cage, a lot of very black humor and gets to develop a strong pessimism. The story is appropriately set in New Orleans (during the Hurricane Katrina's aftermath) and mainly shows what occurs to good people when bad people prosper. Nicholas Cage aside, Val Kilmer doesn't probably manages to do much, but Mendes and Dourif deliver convincing performances. Abel Ferrara's "Bad Lieutenant" was a dirty depiction of a strongly damaged detective (played by Harvey Keitel), where, leaving from the illusions of a drug-induced cop, ended up involving a lot of Catholic guilt. Here there's more action and humor than that stuff, not that the movie is shallow but probably it's just a bit more unpretentious.

Nicolas Cage - an Oscar winning actor in Werner Herzog's movie "Bad Lieutenant" which has nothing to do with Harvey Keitel's 1992 film, goes absolute crazy in some scenes, but not as furious as he can. These limitations can be for good, to keep movie's tone in check. And there are no reasons to break drama genre and go bizarre into even more comedic and crazier tone. Because comedy is a pretty usual thing in this flick. Cage's character Terence McDonagh is a drug addict, very reactionary, he is frightening at times, because of what he is capable of, but inside he is a good , selfish person, who just seeks a way out. He has this back problem, taking pills, which aren't helping, he basically takes his own medicine ,using cocaine mostly with his prostitute girlfriend Frankie (Eva Mendes). After a group homicide of several immigrants Detective McDonagh is assigned to investigate. This and his personal problems lead this character into an interesting ending. Watching the movie you can't dislike Terence, the direction is really effective to make us care about, at first look, a scum like McDonagh. The plot goes many unexpected ways. Thanks to screenwriter William M. Finkelstein, who definitely wrote an engaging script.

After loosing the main witness for immigrant's case, McDonagh goes rogue, uniting with the drug-boss, to make some quick money in order to pay debts and save his girlfriend from what she got herself into. That lead to a group of absolutely unexpected events that are not to be estimated anyhow. Nic Cage's character is that chemical element, provoking those events as he becomes a completely different person throughout the film.

The humor in this film is one special part that I enjoyed the most. Not only McDonagh is a guy who threatens helpless old people, but does it with style, and with script's emotional help by making those old people not only victims but villains in that scene, which is it absolutely funny, because emotionally you expect and want McDonagh to do so.

There no much action in this film, at some point it becomes a little fantasy of a drug addict. Moments of him, seeing dancing sole and stuff like that makes this movie even more bizarre, but Herzog doesn't overuse scenes like that, so to make this movie a good combination of drama, comedy and addict's fantasy.