Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)

I love this movie so much

Very best movie i ever watch

Boring

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

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.

Herzog's popularity, and some might say his entire career, came from his long partnership with the incomparable firestorm of an actor Klaus Kinski. In Herzog's own words, their "joint derangement must have converged to create great art". Whether Herzog was referring to Kinski's explosive fury on screen or something more insidious such as the real life allegations that Kinski sexually molested his daughter from age 5 to 19, we don't know. My point is that Herzog had the ability to draw on Kinski's madness & evil to create some very memorable films about precisely that: madness & evil ("Aguirre", "Fitzcarraldo", "Nosferatu"). After Kinski died, Herzog's films were considerably less explosive although he still pushed those dark themes.Here in "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans", once again we get the familiar themes of madness and depravity, and although it doesn't quite strike that horrifying Kinski vein, it has moments of brilliance thanks to an excellent acting job by Nicolas Cage.We also get, at the core, a well-written story by William Finkelstein who wrote extensively for gritty TV crime dramas like "NYPD Blue", "Law & Order" and "L.A. Law".It's the story of a rogue New Orleans cop who is investigating a series of murders while he himself flirts with depravity as he battles with drug-related issues and moral degradation. What's important to note is the familiar Herzoggian theme of madness and the thrill of of evil on the human soul. Cage plays a detective who, on the surface, is a cool-tempered & intelligent hero, a likable guy really. But he begins to descend into depravity, and there are 1 or 2 moments of outright sickening behavior (such as falsely arresting, then having sex with a woman in exchange for letting her go). This is not a film for the morally faint of heart. It is intended to morally shock us, and that it does.But what's interesting is the way Cage's portrayal remains heroic (the good guy), unlike Kinski's villainous portrayals (the monster). In the past, Herzog-Kinski films presented us with a vision of evil which thrilled us in a guilty way, as if we're passing a gory car wreck. Here we have the much more comfortable yet equally challenging perspective of watching a good guy who can't resist the thrill of depravity. So from a safer distance from evil, we can watch the story unfold.I don't know if it's that subtle thematic difference, or simply the idea that Nicolas Cage is not an alleged incestuous child abuser, that made me enjoy this film in a lighter way. I should note that this film also carries much more humor and playful dark comedy than any of Herzog's other films I've seen. In the 2nd half of the film, Cage's frenetic portrayal of a coked-up, cracked-up drug fiend was done a comedic air... along with some hilarious surreal visuals & music (the break dancing scene had me laughing out loud).Ultimately, we get a "morality tale" which is very gritty, very comic, very morally disturbing, and yet it doesn't leave us with a sick feeling like certain other films which explore the evil nature of human beings. In fact, with the exception of the disturbing sexual bribe scene, "Bad Lieutenant" could almost be watched as a dark comedy from start to finish. It's a different approach for Herzog, one which would be great to see him explore in the future.Final note worth mentioning, since Herzog's early films were notorious for having real animal abuse/killing that may disturb some viewers: Yes, there is a scene of a dead alligator with her guts spilled out, and yes it is real. But according to the DVD extras, the alligator carcass was purchased from (presumably) New Orleans animal control because it was a "nuisance alligator eating people's pets and stuff." I think there was an American Humane "no animals harmed" disclaimer at the end of the movie.

As the title suggests, this is an unconventional film about an unconventional police lieutenant, and it's quite hard to pin down an opinion on it because it is unlike anything I have ever seen in terms of style and story.Having seen several Nicholas Cage films, I was fully expecting to see him play his typical worldly-wise middle aged man role despite having read the synopsis (think the National Treasure [2004; 2007] and Knowing [2009]). I was surprised to see him play a completely different character and it was oddly refreshing to see him break away from his typecast. Cage is completely believable as an erratic drug addict, his odd behaviour and strange visions of iguanas (when you see the film, you'll understand) strangely draw you in to his rough, "trippy" world. The film often loses you, at points it is hard to understand how the current scene links to the previous, but that is all part of the effect. Even the supporting characters are fuzzy and it's hard to work out who is taking drugs and who isn't. The story makes sense but doesn't necessarily follow a typical linear structure; it's slow but you never feel like there's something that doesn't matter to the overall storyline. It manages to project Cage's character's decline onto every other aspect of the film in such a way that you don't really notice until the very end. It's downright bizarre.It's difficult to put your finger on whether or not this film is enjoyable, and the reasons why. If nothing else, the story is cleverly presented to perfectly depict the decline caused by addiction, and leaves you feeling fuzzy-headed yourself. A strange viewing that very much keeps you thinking once it has finished.

Excellent movie. (Don't be put off by the lame title, which makes it sound like it is part of a series, or a video game. It is neither). On the surface, a conventional cop drama. However, one of the cops, played by Nicholas Cage, is corrupt, and a drug addict. The movie is more about his life, and his descent into addiction, and more outlandish situations to feed his habit, than the murder case he is working on. The results are surreal, and darkly funny at times (look out for anything involving iguanas!).While the plot and direction are solid and original, it is the performance of Nicholas Cage which makes the movie. He acts out of his skin, relishing the opportunity to act insanely over the top. I would go so far as to say that this is his best performance since the superb "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995). That says a lot in that he won the Best Actor Oscar for that performance, and was nominated for his performance in "Adaptation" (2002).Solid performances from the supporting cast - Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, rapper Xzibit (which was a surprise casting, and even more surprising performance, in a pleasant way).Probably won't be suitable for everyone's taste. If you're looking for straightforward cop drama, forget it. If you want something that's edgy, gritty, meaningful and different, this is it.