Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 136
Fresh: 119 | Rotten: 17
Befitting its unorthodox origins, this Bad Lieutenant benefits from Werner Herzog's typically fearless direction and a delightfully unhinged Nicolas Cage in the title role.
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 37
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 4
Befitting its unorthodox origins, this Bad Lieutenant benefits from Werner Herzog's typically fearless direction and a delightfully unhinged Nicolas Cage in the title role.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 52,181
My Rating
Movie Info
Abel Ferrara's cult crime drama Bad Lieutenant is given a sister film with this Werner Herzog-helmed production that takes its inspiration from the original, but focuses on new characters and plotlines. Nicolas Cage steps into Harvey Keitel's mold of a corrupt and drug-addled police officer, with the scummy setting moving from New York City to New Orleans. Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, and Xzibit co-star in the Nu Image/Millennium Films picture. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
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Cast
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Nicolas Cage
Terence McDonagh -
Eva Mendes
Frankie Donnenfield -
Val Kilmer
Stevie Pruit -
Xzibit
Big Fate -
Fairuza Balk
Heidi -
Shawn Hatosy
Armand Benoit -
Jennifer Coolidge
Genevieve -
Tom Bower
Pat McDonagh -
Vondie Curtis-Hall
Capt. James Brasser -
Brad Dourif
Ned Schoenholtz -
Denzel Whitaker
Daryl -
Irma P. Hall
Binnie Rogers -
Shea Whigham
Justin -
Michael Shannon
Mundt -
Joe Nemmers
Larry Moy -
J.D. Evermore
Rick Fitzsimon -
Tim Bellow
G (Gary Jenkins) -
Lucius Baston
Midget -
Lauren Swinney
Antoinette -
Nick Gomez
Evaristo Chavez -
William M. Finkelstein
Dave Jacobs -
Samuel Medina
Andy -
Lance E. Nichols
Jeremiah Goodhusband -
Tony Bentley
Hurley -
Jeremy Aaron Johnson
Yasco -
-
Matt Borel
Bernie -
Gary Grubbs
Chief of Police -
J. Omar Castro
First Narcotics Detecti... -
Kerry Cahill
Second Narcotics Detect... -
Noel Arthur
Renaldo Hayes -
Douglas M. Griffin
Sergeant -
-
Dane Rhodes
Bettor -
Jedda Jones
Civilian Aide -
Don Yesso
Client -
Trey Burvant
Dealer -
Robert Pavlovich
Dr. Milburn -
Marco St. John
Eugene Gratz -
David Joseph Martinez
Juan Michel -
-
Kyle Clements
Lawrence -
Dorinda Deena Beasley
Maimouna -
Deneen D. Tyler
Pharmacist -
Roger Timber
Security Guard -
Joshua Gillum
Host -
Sean Boyd
Lt. Stoyer -
Katie Chonacas
Tina -
Brandi Coleman
Yvonne -
Michael Zimbrich
Waiter -
Trenton Perez
Boy -
Stephanie Honore
Girl
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All Critics (139) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (124) | Rotten (17) | DVD (8)
Is redemption possible for this bad lieutenant? At one point, he orders that a dead man be shot again because "his soul is still dancing." If you find God in that line, then welcome to your movie heaven.
Top CriticIn fusing European experimentalism and Hollywood boldness, Herzog has created a genuine oddity, a furious and unforgettable hybrid which may well prove to be 2010's most purely enjoyable moviegoing experience.
Cage, who usually goes gonzo with gusto, underplays this monster. That spoils the fun.
Nicolas Cage is out of his mind in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call -- New Orleans. And it's wonderful to see.
Nicolas Cage is so gleefully over-the-top as the troubled cop of the title that you will either be repulsed or fascinated by his performance and, since it lives or dies by it, the movie itself.
If Herzog had chosen realism over surrealism, this film would have been predictable and unentertaining. As it is, I found it oddly captivating. This is one weird movie.
[Cage is] hilarious, scary, contorted, mournful, mean and weirdly, monstrously lovable -- the perfect actor to work with one of the world's most stubborn, bold, idiosyncratic filmmakers.
Nicolas Cage's deliriously unhinged portrayal of the film's titular bent cop ranks right up there with his most memorably off-kilter performances.
Despite the snake slither-swimming through the bars of a flooded cellblock, the injured alligator and the iguanas that seem to be crooning Johnny Adams' 'Release Me,' star Nicolas Cage may be the most reptilian presence here...
Perhaps it took a director as crazy as Werner Herzog to control (and ultimately unleash) the madness that exists within Cage ... they craft a character not unlike a modern day Daniel Plainview.
Bad Lieutenant, Bad!
There's a dark, dark humour throughout that keeps the film from plunging into over-the-top farce. In the end, BLT is a rambunctious, ridiculous feat of cinematic excess.
Any reservations that this is a straight forward remake of Abel Ferrara's hardcore Catholic redemption drama should be left on the wayside, for this Bad Lieutenant is a different monster all together.
Cage's Lieutenant McDonagh is a parody of not just the actor's own performances in recent years, but a gaudy exaggeration of every bad-cop cliché out there.
This will be remembered as one of Cage's finest performances. Maybe he has just needed the right director and in eccentric German genius Werner Herzog he's found him.
Audience Reviews for Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Super Reviewer
There's plenty of imagery to go with the story, and several times I wondered if the whole thing wasn't just a dream within a dream, but by the end you can see that Cage's "Bad Lieutenant" is living a double life - and that he prefers it that way, falling not just under the influence of drugs, but embracing the whole drug world - getting off on his power as a cop to coerce people into supplying his needs. He rides the Tiger - defying the odds and somehow, even though stoned out of his mind, manages either by luck or destiny, to bring down not one, but two drug rings. He rides this wave and survives because, as he stated several times during the film - he simply doesn't care one way or the other. If you do indeed truly embrace the void, Werner seems to be telling us, then nothing is impossible or unlikely.
Cage is so delightfully over the top, yet somehow you believe in all the histrionics and quirky mannerisms, whether this is because Werner presents the film partly through a drug filled haze where you aren't sure if what you're watching is real or part of Cage's imagination. The beauty of the film is that it doesn't supply an easy answer. It lays out the action and all its little twists and is so strong in its portrayal that both the happy ending and subsequent "real" one both seem sides of a surreal coin.
To say that Werner embraces a Lynchian sensibility in this film wouldn't be far wrong, only the narrative is far more cohesive and alluring than some of Lynch's later work. The surreal passages, from squirming river snakes to singing iguanas all set a tone and have a purpose beyond mere shock value, and are more accessible than Lynch's brand of surrealism.
This film isn't perfect, however I have to applaud Werner for taking what could have been another typical cop film and infusing it with a totally new direction. If you are expecting a morality tale here, then you will be disappointed, for there isn't one - and that's a beautiful thing; just as it's beautiful to watch a gifted director walk the tightrope between absurd and relevance.
Super Reviewer
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- Terence McDonagh: Shoot him again.
- Midget: What for?
- Terence McDonagh: His soul is still dancing.
-
- Terence McDonagh: Fucking iguanas.
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- Dave Jacobs: When you engage with another human being, we remind ourselves that we're not alone.
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- Terence McDonagh: It's amazing how much you can get done when you've got a single purpose guiding you through life.
-
- Terence McDonagh: You don't have a lucky crack pipe?
-
- Terence McDonagh: You think fish have dreams?
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Latest News on Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
April 6, 2010:
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Foreign Titles
- Bad Lieutenant - Cop ohne Gewissen (DE)
- Bad Lieutenant (UK)
It's part cop drama, part addiction story, and all character study. A washed up, sleazy, and corrupt drug addicted cop tackles the criminal underworld of New Orleans as well as his own demons, and, since Werner Herzog is in the director's chair, you know it will definitely have its idiosyncratic moments. It is maybe a tad too long and the pacing is a little too slow, but those are my only real complaints. This is Cage's movie through and through, and, for people who think he's washed up now, they need to go and see this movie. He is a master at playing creepy, weird, frazzled individuals who are too far gone. The rest of the cast is nice, but some of their performances are better than others. Xzibit turns in a surprisingly good performance. Under the right director, I think he could have a nice film career in his future.
This is a trippy, enjoyable and baffling (in a good way) movie that, while showing a more human side to the type of characters that Cage is playing, is so much more than just sleaze, and excess, but still shakes the audience up with it's unconventional approach to a story that in normal circumstances, is pretty standard and straightforward stuff.