Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans poster & wallpaper

Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer

The remake follows Terence McDonough, as he investigates the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.

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63% liked it

23,770 ratings

Critics

84% liked it

77 critics

R, 2 hrs. 1 min.

Directed by: Werner Herzog

Release Date: November 20, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (775)

  • flickfever
    December 4, 2009
    flickfever
    Nicolas Cage has become an actor that can pick and choose projects at his discretion. And, granted, sometimes his choices are inspired (Adaptation.); and sometimes they're of the pandering kind, (National Treasure 1 & 2). But sometimes, he makes a choice that is so off-the-charts...( read more) that you're left wondering, "What the hell was he thinking?"

    This update of the Harvey Keitel-vehicle Bad Lieutenant starts off with great promise. Set against the backdrop of a post-Katrina-battered New Orleans is a great glimpse into a city battered not only by nature, but by the remnants of and rampant violence that existed before the hurricane, and that lingered long afterward.

    Unfortunately, our little lieutenant is the epitome of corruption himself. He's a man without scruples who, addicted to most drugs known to man, must take on every criminal in town--just so he can score more crack for himself. He takes on hookers--after he's taken them for himself. He helps fight corruption--after he's made his own back-end deals. He is a hero in the eyes of the community and his department despite the fact that he may very well be high on heroin during his own induction ceremony at City Hall.

    There is a big pile of plots and themes that are presented. Some interesting; others not so much. It makes you wish the director would pick a direction and steer you into it. But it doesn't happen. The film is a disjointed jumble of crime-drama clichés from the corrupted cops, to the reformed alcoholics, to the hooker with a heart of gold that our protagonist frequents.

    While this is a far cry from Leaving Las Vegas, it makes you wonder what this film would have been like if it had actually been set on The Strip. I, for one, don't think it would have been any better if it had had the same crew and cast involved. The faults can be traced back to the film's uninspired screenplay and the gross underuse and mishandling of its cast. Val Kilmer is a total waste in a role (as the lieutenants partner) that is neither redeeming nor necessary.

    And speaking of redemption: there isn't anything that redeems our potty-mouthed, relentlessly ruthless, crack-addicted main character. There is no shred of empathy-inducing characteristics that he possesses. And, just as you realize that this guy is actually the film's villain and he deserves what he has coming--it never comes for him. Ironically--maybe cynically--I think this is the only thing this film got right in depicting: you can do all sorts of bad, bad things and still get away with it.

    I mean, this movie did get made after all. So, that must prove my point.
  • her69eyes
    December 1, 2009
    her69eyes
    Although Nicolas Cage has made some... peculiar... choices in his acting career, you can still count on him to deliver a great performance with a meaty role every couple of years. There was "Adaptation" in 2002, "The Weather Man" in 2005, and now we have his latest great performa...( read more)nce in "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans". Where this role differs, however, is that Cage is pretty much up to the same schtick that he brought to the table in efforts like "The Wicker Man". He's preposterous and completely over-the-top. An actor with so little restraint, however, is the perfect fit for a film by one of cinema's greatest eccentrics (and, I would argue, one of our greatest living directors), Werner Herzog.

    Cage plays Terence McDonagh, a New Orleans detective who, in the films opening sequence, injures his back in the process of saving a prisoner from Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters. Heroic this was not, however, as McDonagh was initially perfectly content with keeping his swiss-cotton underpants in tact.

    The back injury leads to Vicodin, the Vicodin leads to cocaine, and before you know it McDonagh is raping young girls, aiming guns at elderly nurses, and hallucinating break-dancing souls. The film, to make the understatement of the decade, is wild, and most peculiarly is how Herzog chooses to set this lunacy in a completely naturalistic environment. He appears to be playing it straight, even when we take a brief interlude to get the point-of-view of a hallucinated reptile.

    Where the film suffers is in the actual police procedural subplot. The murder investigation is not of much interest - it's so dull, in fact, that it distracts from the film's central relationships. The lack of restraint by both Cage and Herzog, on the other hand, will thwart your efforts of completely losing interest.

    Herzog's latest is a terrific mess of a film, a piece so delightfully obscene that you quite literally need to see it to believe it. It may not all work, but lesser Herzog still displays more audacity and invention than just about anything else at your local multiplex.
  • hobster1
    November 24, 2009
    hobster1
    Actor Nicolas Cage's loopy performance highlights this interesting portrait of a New Orleans Police officer investigating the murder of a family of African immigrants. Not a sequel to director Abel Ferrara's 1992 film, but rather a variation on the same theme with different char...( read more)acters. Certainly director Werner Herzog's most mainstream picture, it starts out as a rather scattered crime story, jumping from one vignette to another. As it progresses however it develops into an enjoyable caricature of the genre, a portrait of a renegade cop without a moral compass. No one one plays crazy like Nicolas Cage, and when he does, it can either entertain or irritate. Luckily, this time, his offbeat behavior enlivens the action considerably.
  • DrZeek
    November 24, 2009
    DrZeek
    Terence McDonagh: Shoot him again.
    Deshaun 'Midget' Hackett: What the hell for?
    Terence McDonagh: His soul is still dancing.
    [laughs hysterically]

    A remake of a heavy early 90s cop drama starring Harvey Keitel into a dark comedy with Nicolas Cage in the lead and directed by W...( read more)erner Herzog. While the film does a good enough job balancing a lot of weirdness, Cage certainly gives his best performance in years, even if its not close to Keitel.

    The main character here is Terrence McDonagh, played by Cage, a New Orleans Police sergeant, who starts out as a good cop, receiving a medal and a promotion to lieutenant for heroism during Hurricane Katrina. During his heroic act, McDonagh injures his back and later becomes addicted to prescription pain medication, leading to many more hardcore drugs, and eventually just basic corruption as a police officer, taking advantage of women, stealing evidence, and continuing to do drugs, although he does do well as an officer. McDonagh struggles with addictions and finds himself involved with drug dealer Big Fate, played by Xzibit, who is suspected of murdering a family of African immigrants. As the story goes on, McDonagh has to deal with more and more issues involving the case, his gambling habits, and issues with his prostitute girlfriend Frankie, played by Eva Mendes.

    To get this out of the way, even if I think the first film is very good, but not great, Keitel's performance is among the best performances that I have seen in film. That being said, Cage does a very good job here. He is in complete big bug eyes crazy mode that works in the same way it worked for him in Matchstick Men. As this film progresses and Cage's vices continue to get the better of him, he gets crazier and crazier, with hints of paranoia, and he is still sharp with his cop skills. Its a damn good role for him.

    Also fairing well are a number of supporting characters. Eva Mendes as his junkie girlfriend works. Val Kilmer is underplaying it well enough where you get just enough to make you want more of him. Xzibit is surprisingly effective. Best of all is Jennifer Coolidge, who many know as Stifler's mom, who following those 'Pie' films has been getting a lot of really goofy and stupid roles. Here she is actually in a legitmate role as Cage's father's alcoholic girlfriend and does a very good job.

    Assuming one is still involved with the film, forgiving a lot of the craziness that occurs, much of the problems I had came from the end, where, without going into spoilers, seems to deliver in ways that aren't deserved. I could have used more score as well.

    Setting the film in post-Katrina New Orleans works very well. Not focusing on the glitz and going with the real side of things. Moving the film here and out of New York as in the original film goes a long way in separating the two.

    Overall, its a strange sort of cop film with very good performances.

    Terence McDonagh: Its amazing how much you can get done when you have a simple purpose driving you.
  • stopitgoaway
    November 16, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    I just watched this at London Film Festival & went in expecting to hate it as I loved the original. But I have to say, the film is excellent, certainly Cage's best film & best performance since Leaving Las Vegas. Herzog has done a brilliant job & the film stands on it's own, apar...( read more)t from the Ferrara film. I won't spoil bits by mentioning them, but the film has several stand-out memorable scenes worth the price of admission alone. Herzog has always said that training for making films is 'life' not a stuffy film studies class etc. If you're familiar with his work or sensibilities, you'll get even more insight into how cool this guy is after watching this film. I look fwd to watching it again when it releases and getting the DVD!!
  • 0001hrs
    December 7, 2009
    0001hrs
    Clearly one of the better, if not the best, Nicholas Cage performance to date. I love it when bad guys win.
  • LickTheABCs
    December 3, 2009
    LickTheABCs
    At first, the movie seemed like a complete 'what the fuck?' type project. A not-needed remake, starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Werner Herzog. I mean seriously, bro.. what the fuck?

    Well, it totally is exactly as you'd expect. Except, it doesn't suck. Yeah, I know dude, I c...( read more)ouldn't believe it either.

    Cage gives his most fucked up performance to date and Herzog out-crazies him every step of the way. You might not like it like I did, you might think it was too nuts or whatever, but you could never say it wasn't entertaining.
  • kmendoza20
    December 2, 2009
    kmendoza20
    This movie is crazy. But I would say Nicolas Cage at his best. Great performance by him. WHen you see the movie you will be like wtf ? ? ?
  • voodoomarijuana
    December 2, 2009
    voodoomarijuana
    Nick needs some money goe see this shit if its even three stars. Okay I got thirty dollars in the pool now so this better be worth it. Totally is. Farizua Balk half naked dominatrix. Val Kilmer as costarring lol if he had a name or part I dont remember it but he didnt see the Igu...( read more)anas on the table and thats all i know. Eva Mendez as a coked up prostitute.
  • myid38
    December 2, 2009
    myid38
    Download and watch the new movie Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans http://blog-movie.com/Bad-Lieutenant-Port-of-Call-New-Orleans.html

View All Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans Reviews

Critic Reviews

December 1, 2009
Kurt Loder, MTV

Do fish have dreams? Do they dream of ominous iguanas, perhaps? Or maybe the disembodied breakdancing souls of freshly capped gangsters? More to the point, will Nicolas Cage ever make another movie th... full review

November 24, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Despite his strangely receding hairline, bug-eyed demeanor and hunchback stance, Cage somehow avoids making this police lieutenant a caricature. full review

November 20, 2009
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

If the new film commits the sin of entertainment, it's redeemed by a sense of life's contradictions and distinguished by surreal flourishes that include a pair of iguanas, slithery witnesses to Terenc... full review

November 20, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

There can only ever be one Bad Lieutenant: Harvey Keitel. full review

November 19, 2009
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

There's a valuable lesson to be learned from Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans: Two wrongs don't make a right -- it takes at least three. full review

November 19, 2009
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans -- why Port of Call? what does that mean? -- is no masterpiece, but it is undoubtedly the work of a master. full review

November 19, 2009
Armond White, The New York Press

Cage's receding hairline and hunchback performance evokes Conrad Veidt -- a Klaus Kinski-like maniac -- because this is, in fact, a German Expressionist horror film and comedy. full review

November 19, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

No one is better at this kind of performance than Nicolas Cage. He's a fearless actor. He doesn't care if you think he goes over the top. If a film calls for it, he will crawl to the top hand over han... full review

November 16, 2009
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

May not result in a coherent whole but nonetheless delivers bursts of random, inspired madness. full review

November 16, 2009
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

If there's a sure thing in movies, it's that if you cast Nicolas Cage in a role in which he goes crazy, he'll rise to the occasion and keep on rising until he seems even loonier than his character. full review

View more Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • amazon9
    December 4, 2009
    amazon9
    I watched it over at http://dalster.com
  • mumtazian
    November 20, 2009
    mumtazian
    njir meni hoyong nigali pilemna ieuteh sabab simkuring ngepens banget sama mr. Cage ..... eva mendez juga
  • JJSamurai
    October 29, 2009
    JJSamurai
    What was wrong with the one with Harvey Kietel? I love that movie!
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