Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

One must be a big fan of Nicolas Cage to enjoy this movie. I struggle to see any other reason why people may like it at all... Scores like 7/10 that I see here at IMDb should be a marketing phenomenon.

After the very strong, full of thought and of real pain, Ferrara's 'Bad Lieutenant' starring Harvey Keitel, this new 'Bad Lieutenant' by Herzog/Cage being classified as 'drama' must be a joke! This is nothing but a campy, pointless, dull comedy, or parody if you like, employing all stamps of cheap police serials. Herzog does throw in a bit of 'Fear and Loathing' inspired puff, which apparently should hint at some open-mindness, but since there is no idea, or feeling, or mood, or anything behind it, the puff remains a puff. I cannot get rid of the impression that the creators of the 2009 movie had the only aim of replacing the seriously bad Keitel's lieutenant with something much less problematic.

The actors work is horrible in a sense that there is no sign of real life, not a single one believable character. All are flat masks, starting with Cage. The plot is reasonably twisted but again, no sign of real life, it's all kinda comic book story made up to entertain, with no reference to any believable situation. We've seen it all, and more, and better, in one of those TV series.

The bottom line: A high budget B movie. If it was Leslie Nielsen and not Cage, at least it would be funny.

Fmovies: It was absurdist, because it didn't make sense. It was over the top, and then some. That doesn't automatically make it a comedy.

For that it would need, what's that word again... oh yeah, humor! Which it didn't have. Because it wasn't funny. To me.

I went into the movie not knowing the genre, or who made it. I cringed at every cliché, and though it sometimes had the air of a spoof comedy, it was just so... off. The film's rhythm hurt my brain. And it felt like it lasted for ages.

So if that was the effect Herzog went for, he succeeded. A very accurate rendition of a crappy movie, bravo! The joke's on us, I guess. We must have deserved it somehow, you know we'll watch anything by you. And you must be a real artist if you can invoke such genuine emotions in your audience, like disgust and disappointment.

I gave it a 4 for getting such a great cast together, but I'd like at least 1 of those 2 hours back.

Port of Call is an excellent movie that knows what it is and entertains throughout. If you watch the movie thinking of it as a serious drama you're going to be disappointed. I laughed along with the audience many times during this film and found it to be entertaining the entire time. Although it deals with graphic subject matter that should be depressing it isn't, you could easily buy a bucket of popcorn to go with it. Although the movie was a bit ridiculous I was surprised to actually feel concern for some of the characters at times. The plot was entertaining and keeps your interest. There were a few great lines and Nick Cage gives a great performance, he's fun to watch in this movie. I thought a darkened New Orleans worked great for the setting as well. If you like black comedies and crime dramas go see Port of Call and prepare to be entertained.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans fmovies. BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL – NEW ORLEANS, started off as a type of cop thriller – based in New Orleans following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina …

Nicholas Cage (Raising Arizona, Face Off, Con Air) plays dirty cop Terence McDonagh investigating the murder of an immigrant family who were involved with drugs, his life takes a turn for the worse when injuring his back whilst saving the life of a prisoner – his injuries giving him so much pain that he turns to stealing drugs from criminals to feed his constantly growing habit

This film lost it's way early on in the story and never recovered in that every time that the tension built up to a climax the director would go off on some zany weird tangent that had nothing to do with the story – trying, but failing to emulate the style of the Coen brothers.

Ultimately this was a very poorly directed movie that didn't know where it was going or what it was trying to achieve, and a surprising bad film from quite a revered Director Werner Herzog

Although it should be said that there was such a strong cast and noteworthy performances by Eva Mendes (Frankie Donnenfield) as the love interest, Brad Dourif (Ned Schoenholtz) as a bookie, Jennifer Coolidge (Genevieve) as the Mother and Val Vilmer (Stevie Pruit) as the violent cop – there was really nothing that could save this film.

With the twists and turns in the plot – this film could have gone in any of ten directions – and I'm pretty sure that any of the other nine directions would have made a better movie.

The title of the movie suggests that this is one of a series of BAD LIEUTENANT films - Note to self: Don't bother watching any more of this series

This movie is filled with humor and turns, it's jazzy and entertaining but not that similar to Abel Ferrara's 1992 story, in spite of the title. It features a wonderful and very much involved performance from Nicholas Cage, a lot of very black humor and gets to develop a strong pessimism. The story is appropriately set in New Orleans (during the Hurricane Katrina's aftermath) and mainly shows what occurs to good people when bad people prosper. Nicholas Cage aside, Val Kilmer doesn't probably manages to do much, but Mendes and Dourif deliver convincing performances. Abel Ferrara's "Bad Lieutenant" was a dirty depiction of a strongly damaged detective (played by Harvey Keitel), where, leaving from the illusions of a drug-induced cop, ended up involving a lot of Catholic guilt. Here there's more action and humor than that stuff, not that the movie is shallow but probably it's just a bit more unpretentious.

This is one of the best films of the year, but judging by the comments here, it's also one of the most under-appreciated and misunderstood.

I loved it. To the horde of naysayers, I simply want to shout from the rooftops, "This is a film dammit, not an exercise in some mysterious media, and it's a damn good one." There. That feels better.

Nicolas Cage finds his inner demons and let's them out to play in his role as the drug addicted cop. He's more than believable as a coke snorting, crack rock smoking fiend who thinks nothing of squeezing people, good guys and bad alike. And by the way, the bizarre mannerisms...yup, that's what drugs will do for you. To my mind, he nailed it! Take one small mannerism, the way he snorts a small pinch of coke from the back of his hand, a flurry of movement, and voilà, an observer would never know. It's inventive Cage and it's priceless. And you won't find many in the real drug world as good at it.

The supporting cast is excellent, although I must admit I did forget Val Kilmer was even it at times.

The texture, the interwoven story lines, the camera work. All superb. It's a Tarrantino film with a Herzog touch. Ask yourself, how many interrogation rooms have you seen on television and in movies? Any of them have windows with traffic outside? Probably not. Good touch and the film has dozens of them.

As for the iguanas and dancing mobster. These are apparitions folks. You know, born of the effects of all those drugs on the brain. They are not symbolic. They are not misguided touches of the bizarre (well, maybe they are a bit). They are the demons of a drug soaked mind and of course they are all of of proportion. That's what demons do! Very entertaining. You want more? Read a book.