On one hand, the film -- a very loosely-adapted take on Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant (1992) -- opts for a very sober, by-the-books approach to the cop genre. A quick visit to Imdb.com reveals a complete non-shocker -- screenwriter William M. Finkelstein's TV credits reflect an extensive background in police and procedural dramas (including 60 episodes on L.A. Law), making him an all-too logical choice for scripting duties.
So with any number of other directors and lead actors attached, Bad Lieutenant probably would have been another easily forgettable good-cop-gone-bad story. The characters (McDonagh excluded) are pretty unspectacular, many fitting a little too comfortably into (nearly offensive) genre shorthand (i.e. the hooker with a heart of gold, the black drug lord/gangster, etc.).
But then, there's that other allegiance, the absolute non-sober-minded one, driving Bad Lieutenant toward something far more existentially probing, downright bizarre and all around pleasing. Director Werner Herzog, the soft-spoken (since Klaus Kinski's death, anyway) German iconoclast and his leading man, Nicolas Cage, toss an incredible amount of insanity on the screen. Overall, their collective effort isn't quite enough to propel the film past its numerous shortcomings, but damn, if it isn't fun watching them try.
Bad Lieutenant -- The Fall of Terrence McDonagh and Resurrection of Nicolas Cage
The basic set up is simple enough -- after injuring his back in the line of duty, the well-respected Lt. McDonagh (Cage) starts soaking up drugs like a sponge to water in order to offset his chronic pain. Months after the injury, he's on the trail of Big Fate (Xzibit, displaying his acting chops), one of New Orleans' biggest drug dealers, a potential suspect for a grisly multiple homicide. There isn't much suspense or investment in the Who Dunnit? angle, which feels like an appropriate (if not deliberate) choice by Herzog. Because just about everyone and everything in Bad Lieutenant benefits when playing second fiddle to Cage's absolutely manic performance.
McDonagh's antics are vile, hysterical and performed without remorse. He's something of a crack-smoking, sports-betting Antichrist and not unlike the snake slithering through the murky flood waters of Hurricane Katrina, the image that opens the film. Herzog posits him (somewhat successfully) as a metaphor for a city whose underbelly was churned up by the storm waters, his/its darker qualities exposed for all to see. It's an unflattering association both for New Orleans and for McDonagh.
His dedication to his job makes him an interesting study, both protector and profiteer in the drug crime throughout his precinct. Cage plays the part with a freedom from morality -- he allows McDonagh to be neither hero nor villain, just certifiably nuts. It is one of the year's best performances that could have easily been of the worst. Not since Adaptation. has Cage had such an opportunity to sink into material (largely his own fault based on what could politely be referred to as a spotty career), and he really does take this one "to the break of dawn" as McDonagh quips, waving his revolver in hand.
Herzog in Cop Land -- Competing With Hookers and Hallucinations
Cage's performance alone is enough to elevate the material (seriously, he's stunning), but what separates Bad Lieutenant from being an enjoyable oddity versus a truly great film is its clashing sensibilities. In a movie that, for the most part, plays it straight, Herzog's visual indulgences (a few hallucinations) stick out like a sore thumb. The inclusion of these bits in and of itself fits the amusing head trip to hell McDonagh has embarked on, but the under-editing overstates the point.
Elsewhere, Herzog's control is far more reigned-in. He and cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger's slightly desaturated tones fit the occasion, and the long tracking shots (one especially, during a bust) are impressive, if not entirely integral to the proceedings. Whatever restraint Herzog may or may not be displaying behind the camera, it's a bit of a shame he didn't inject his authorship a little more on the writing side of things.
The misogyny in Bad Lieutenant goes beyond (or actually, falls short of) an extension of McDonagh's flaws -- however unintentional, it's pretty hard to miss. McDonagh's girlfriend, Frankie (Eva Mendes), is, of course, a high-end prostitute, his stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge) an awful drunk and the few other women we meet become either sex objects, victims of violence or sometimes both.
This could very well be part of a larger, nihilistic philosophy within the film, or more likely, part of a larger weakness in the secondary characters. Bad Lieutenant doesn't have half as much to say about corruption or the darkness of the human soul as Herzog's crowning moment, Aguirre: Wrath of God. That said, the former certainly boasts the more enjoyable stark raving mad antihero.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars
VERDICT: Cage gives a knockout turn that is the most sensational (if not best) performance of the year. The movie around him isn't half as impressive or crazed as its lead character.
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