Movie Review: THE BAD LIEUTENANT: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)

THE BAD LIEUTENANT: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)
Directed by: Werner Herzog
Written by: William Finkelstein

First thing you should know going into this film is that it's very much a Werner Herzog film. Those whom are familiar with his work (maybe most notably, the recent RESCUE DAWN staring Christian Bale) will have a much better outing with this film. I forgot that during the viewing and I wish I hadn't. I would have enjoyed it more.

However, it's not a bad film. It's heavy with drug usage; too much for my taste. It's hard to watch at times, but that might be the result of Herzog's vision. Nic Cage really does give a quality performance. Herzog does an excellent job of capturing authenticity throughout the entire film, particularly with the characters. I found it entertaining just watching the characters and not really caring about plot.



Unfortunately, that's where this one does not excel. There's not much of a plot. You mainly follow characters around. It's hard to get a real grasp of what you should and shouldn't care about. All that centers around Terence (Nic Cage). You don't know if he's really good or really bad. That's not to say it's a negative thing. Again, Herzog's vision comes into play. Was that his intention or not? Probably so, but whose to say.

It's most difficult to watch Terence's downward spiral as he struggles to maintain the balance and structure of his life while investigating a homicide, his drug addiction, his relationship with his prostitute girlfriend and his recovering father.

There are a couple of scenes in the film that really standout. The main one being the shootout at Terence's drug-dealing, murder-suspect, partner's house. The whole scene is very interesting, even with it's threat of absurdity. The humor throughout the film is done also in an interesting way.

Overall Rating = 6.1/10.0 ( out of 5)

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