Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call – New Orleans

Dir: Werner Herzog (15, 121 mins)

****

words: Tom Barnett

There’s something in Nicolas Cage’s waters at the moment.  First he plays an Adam West-inspired Batman in Matthew Vaughan’s superb Kick Ass, and now we see him delivering a career-best performance in Werner Herzog’s take on Abel Ferrara’s particularly haunting 1992 film Bad Lieutenant.

The original was a tragic, brutal tale of one filthy – and I mean filthy – cop (Harvey Keitel) and his descent into drug-addled madness, and Herzog has gone for a similar plot, though the similarities between the two films end there.  While the original was dark, serious and perhaps overly violent in its tone, New Orleans has an almost black comedy feel to it at times.

The film opens during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and we immediately see that our ‘hero’ Terence McDonagh (Cage) is not the by-the-book, stereotypical cop that so many American films perpetuate.  Instead, via a severe back injury suffered in the line of duty, he becomes addicted to an ever-escalating cocktail of drugs, and McDonagh is only too happy to use his authority to help fuel this addiction.

Centring around McDonagh’s investigation of a gang-related murder the plot moves along at a manageable pace though through a number of increasingly despicable incidents, including interrogating and nearly killing an elderly woman at an old persons home, and a particularly challenging scene involving a young couple and a car. You are supposed to actively dislike McDonagh.

Yet there’s something about Cage’s manic, 100-miles-per-hour performance that’s astounding, absorbing and – at times – absolutely hilarious.  The film’s funniest moment, however, doesn’t involve Cage; instead, it comes early on when you sit there thinking you recognise McDonagh’s partner. It’s a stunning moment of realisation when you think “Jeez, Val Kilmer has really let himself go.”  This isn’t Kilmer’s finest hour by any means, but despite having third billing he appears on a smattering of occasions; indeed, the film centres around Cage’s performance, and is all the better for it.

Herner has stressed that Port Of Call: New Orleans is in no way a sequel, remake or indeed similar to the original.  It’s a strange, eccentric, but ultimately likeable piece with several interesting talking points.  And thats before I mention the Iguanas…