It's nearly impossible to review a movie like this. In fact, it's highly unlikely that there has ever been another movie "like this". Simply put, Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage have created one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen. This assessment is only strengthened upon the realization that Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (for the purposes of this review I will just call it Bad Lieutenant) tells no real story, at least not the kind of story that people expect when they, you know, watch a movie with a plot and actors and everything else.
First off I must warn you not to confuse this with Abel Ferrera's Bad Lieutenant, a dark and disturbing portrait of one man's downward spiral and quest for redemption. Harvey Keitel was absolutely riveting in the role and to this day, Bad Lieutenant stands as one of the most powerful films I have ever seen. A straight remake would have been an impossible task and luckily this new Bad Lieutenant shares only the most basic premise with its older cousin. Where as Ferrera's film chronicled one man's descent into hell and was about as pleasant as it sounds, Herzog's film is a zany, manic, and oftentimes hilarious cop drama/black comedy/police procedural. The two films really could not be anymore different -- the only reason they share a name is due to a producer tied to both projects. In case I haven't made it clear enough -- comparing the two films is pointless and should not be attempted.
Nicolas Cage plays a, wait for it ... bad lieutenant in post-Katrina New Orleans. When we first meet him he is debating the merits of saving a drowning prisoner with his psychotic partner, played by Val Kilmer, who manages to make an impression in his brief amount of screen time. Against his partner's recommendation, Lt. McDonagh (for that is the bad lieutenant's name) jumps into the flood waters and saves the man. When we next see him six months later, he is a literal wreck, suffering from constant back pain due to the rescue attempt, and is addicted to seemingly every substance on earth. Cage has a ball with the character and Herzog allows all of the usual Cage quirks and idiosyncrasies to shine, resulting in one of the most bizarre characters and performances in recent memory. Cage stalks around New Orleans, one shoulder held contorted above the other due to the back pain, his eyes practically popping out of his head, all with a .44 Magnum stuck in his waistband. This is a man with a lucky crack pipe who spouts hip hop non-sequiters at random ("Til the break a dawn! Til the break a dawn!") and frequently hallucinates that he is surrounded by iguanas. It is a thoroughly engrossing character, similar to a freak show member in a carnival, in that try as you might, you simply can't look away. The film's plot, if you could call it that, doesn't really warrant a discussion. This is not because the plot is terrible (it isn't), but because if you focus on the plot and other traditional elements of film making, you're really missing the point of Bad Lieutenant altogether.
Herzog has a reputation for getting the "crazy" out of his actors and obviously this film is no exception, although the lion's share of the credit must go to Nicolas Cage, an actor as frustrating in the display of his considerable talents as any I can think of. For the most part, Cage has waltzed through the past two decades releasing such dreck as Next, the National Treasure movies, Bangkok Dangerous, and The Wicker Man (which just may be the worst film of the past quarter-century). His roles in many of these films are characterized by record-setting overacting and the familiar "crazy look" of Nicolas Cage. This is the "bad" Nicolas Cage. After awhile, I think we all began to think that perhaps Cage was simply playing himself. Perhaps he really was a world-class nut-job. However, every once in awhile he released a film to remind us that deep beneath the frequently terrible hair and generic action roles is a highly talented actor with nigh-unstoppable range. Just take a look at Moonstruck, Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas, or Adaptation to see the "good" Nicolas Cage. Which brings us to his role as Lt. Terence McDonagh in Bad Lieutenant. What makes Cage's performance so interesting (aside from the bizarre physical characteristics he lent to the role), is that what we have here is essentially "good" Nicolas Cage playing "bad" Nicolas Cage, all within the confines of the story, and he totally nails it. The performance is simultaneously hilarious and frightening and Cage owns every second that he is on screen.
I could go on to discuss the rest of the cast, or the film's bleached look or any other aspect of the film, but in all honesty this is a movie centered around one performance, one actor, and one man. They are all equally riveting. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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