1. MichaelJ

   10

   Excellent. DO NOT MISS. For yourself, see a movie worth its salt. Maybe the best, certainly the most underrated cinema of 2009. Anyone who doesn't think so, doesn't really like movies, maybe coffee table books are more their thing.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.
2. cabrita

   8

   Bad Lieutenant is a movie that you either get and like or dont and hate. I got it. Some may be disapointed by the story and its weirdness. I am interested in its character who nicholas Cage plays marvelously. Not to mention the iguanas. Overall great ride of a film… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
3. A_Northerner

   7

   To say Nicolas Cage is not my favourite actor would be an understatement. That said films like Con Air are a guilty pleasure of mine. Cage stars in Werner Herzog's 2009 film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. I haven't seen the 1992 film of the same name so I'm coming at this film from an original standpoint.
   
   Cage is Terrence McDonaugh, a lieutenant in the New Orleans police department with an ailing back, earned saving a prisoner during the Katrina floods, that has lead to a growing drug and gambling addiction. The story revolves around a murder investigation, however, the police work is only ever a long second to McDonaugh's spiral out of control. To say the wheels fall off as the story progresses would suggest they were even on in the first place. Cage is fantastic as the reckless, dishevelled, bug-eyed and hunched over addict on the slope to despair. It is definitely by favourite performance by the guy.
   
   Beating David Simon's Treme to the punch, post-Katrina New Orleans is an apt setting for the lawlessness and desperate nature of the film's main character.
   
   Although McDonaugh is certainly a bad lieutenant, snorting coke in front of a teenage witness and pulling the oxygen tube out of an elderly lady's nose while interrogating and verbally abusing her, most of his meltdowns and law-breaking come in pursuit of the drugs he needs and his police work remains largely on point.
   
   The film is maniacally amusing as McDonuagh loses control and coupled with Herzog's abstract direction and William Finkelstein's script, it almost becomes a black comedy. The stand out scene in Bad Lieutenant involves the camera cutting to two iguanas on a table (the iguanas being a hallucination of McDonaughs) where the camera stays watching McDonaugh (who stares back) and his team on a stakeout from the iguana point of view for over a minute with nothing but music playing. Surreal indeed.
   
   The supporting cast is strong and includes Eva Mendes, Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire), Val Kilmer and X-Zibit but there is only one bad lieutenant.
   
   An excellent film featuring a great performance from Nicholas Cage.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
4. KyriY

   2

   Absolute crack. Terrible music, convoluted story, and an over the top performance by a once good actor. If you want a real flavour of New Orleans watch "Treme" the new series from the creators of the wire.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.

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