Over the past decade, its safe to say that Nicholas Cage has drifted away from the sterling material hed previously been attached to and meandered dangerously and inexplicably towards a quagmire of mainstream tat. Its been a bizarre career detour to say the least. That said, while the overall quality of the last ten years has included some dips that are sudden enough to make your stomach do somersaults, his performances have remained consistently sound. As such, when he turns up in a film thats actually pretty good, its a pleasant, almost nostalgic surprise.
Thankfully, Bad Lieutenant falls neatly into that ever shrinking category. Its a ballsy, gritty, darkly funny look at a rogue cops descent into his own personal drug addled chaos brought to life perfectly by Cage, who plays the titular detective with a wild-eyed vigour that hasnt really been seen since he played Castor Troy in Face/Off. Throw into that mix a sense of inner turmoil that reeks of Leaving Las Vegas and you soon find yourself tricked into giving a shit about a deadbeat cop who will screw over anybody in order to keep crack in his lungs, coke in his nose and brown in his veinsm as he smugly shields himself from the consequences with his police badge. Its oddly visceral and deeply engrossing stuff for a film thats been marketed so clearly towards a mainstream audience as a pseudo noir crime comedy.
Bad Lieutenant Trailer |
Taking nothing from Abel Ferraras cult classic other than the name and the theme, Werner Herzogs effort introduces us to a dark, seedy post-Katrina New Orleans, where crime and corruption are rife. As the city threatens to succumb to the lowlifes and the criminal underworld, New Orleans turns to its prime hero – a maniac cop with a bad back, an addiction to a smorgasbord of narcotics, a fondness for hookers and absolutely zilch in the way of morals.
Featuring stark visuals and a harsh, snappy and ultimately hilarious script, Herzogs Bad Lieutenant is arguably a far more engaging animal that its namesake. Its just a shame that it never got the marketing it so badly needed in the UK for the theatrical release. Nevertheless, if you havent already seen it, its well worth picking it up on DVD on account of both the film and the extras too. Sure, all you get is a making of doc and a handful of cast and crew interviews, but the disc is worth the asking price on account of Nic Cages gabbing about his method. In all, it makes for a superb disc that just demands your attention and wont let go of your balls until the credits roll.
Overall Verdict: A grim, seedy and superb slice of tongue-in-cheek noir excellence thatll stomp over most peoples expectations.
Special Features:
Making Of Featurette
Cast and Crew Interviews
Reviewer: Jordan Brown