DVD Reviews

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans – Blu-ray Review

By Frankie Dees Apr 8, 2010, 12:07 GMT

$In Werner Herzog\'s new film Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans, Nicolas Cage plays a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is to scoring drugs while playing fast and loose with the law. He wields his badge as often as he wields his gun in order to get his way. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he becomes a high-functioning addict who is a$

In Werner Herzog\'s new film Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans, Nicolas Cage plays a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is to scoring drugs while playing fast and loose with the law. He wields his badge as often as he wields his gun in order to get his way. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he becomes a high-functioning addict who is a ...more

Curious about what a film might look like if it was put together by a cast and crew that were across the board high on crack? Well, ‘Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans’ is the film for you.

Altogether deranged but deliriously entertaining if you choose to be in on the joke, the pairing of German auteur Werner Herzog and Nicolas Cage (at his bug-eyed best) is inspired lunacy.

The idea of re-imagining Abel Ferrara’s 1992 ‘Bad Lieutenant’ is a peculiar idea to start with but then to set it in New Orleans soon after Katrina and update the NC-17 dramatics of the original with a tone more comedic than heavy? Sure, why not?

You have to understand that a Herzog film (outside of his great documentaries i.e. ‘Grizzly Man’) is its own experience. Their erratic, not traditionally well-made but almost always hypnotic, ‘Aguirre: Wrath of God’ and ‘Fitzcarraldo’ rare, classic exceptions.

No, ‘Bad Lieutenant’ is more along the lines of his nutty ‘Woyzeck’ or the more recent ‘Invincible’ and I imagine if Herzog’s together in hate and brilliance muse, Klaus Kinski, was still alive, he might have headlined the pic himself in a bid to out-crazy Cage. Wait a minute, I love that idea – ‘Aliens’ to ‘Alien’ – Kinski and Cage are ‘Bad Lieutenants’. Wow.

The film starts off strongly with Cage as Lt. Terence McDonaugh sifting through the waters of a flooded prison in post-Katrina looking for drugs and ending up making a jump to rescue a prisoner that ironically lands him on Vicodin. As the original revolves more around religious guilt and a pure downhill battle with drugs, ‘Port of New Orleans’, (if not glamorizing drug-taking) certainly has a degree of fun with it.

The plot, such as it is, is framed around the murder of a Senegalese family with Cage’s McDonaugh overseeing the case. Finding out that the murders go back to a drug war, McDonaugh gets to wreak havoc across the Big O and eventually finds a key suspect Big Fate (Xzbit) whom he chases as both a cop and a drug-user.

Disjointed plot structure also sees McDonaugh dealing with prostitute girlfriend Frankie (Eva Mendes), a copper former lover (Fairuza Balk), a sports bookie (Brad Dourif), his stubborn dad (Tom Bower), and his dad’s younger trashy wife (Jennifer Coolidge).

Nothing particularly tense happens in all these interludes but everything is well-acted and mostly entertaining due to the fact that you can never really figure where it might go next.

Slightly overlong, the film powers ahead on Cage’s histrionics and hand-held close-ups of drug-fueled Iguanas. Yes, you heard me right, druggie Iguanas. Cage is back in fine ‘Vampire’s Kiss’ and ‘Wild at Heart’ form here and unlike, say, ‘The Wicker Man’ embodies a character where such unabashed hysterics is justified.

One big minus is that Val Kilmer is all but wasted as a cop buddy who provides some good early moments but pretty much disappears soon after.

The 1080p 1.85 encode is mostly solid but has an intentionally gritty look with a light layer of grain and a softer image. Not a pic that will show off in high-def much. The Dolby TrueHD track is equally fine but not outstanding.

Some lean special features include a half-hour ‘Making of’ that’s pretty good with plenty of open interviews with Herzog and others. An ‘Alternate Trailer’ and a ‘Photo Gallery’ round things out.

Basically regard this as a completely different beast as the original and you’ll do fine. Where the original is a grim powerhouse of a film surrounding Harvey Keitel’s amazing central perf, ‘Port of New Orleans’ is a more fun ride if not near as affecting.

If Nicolas Cage threatening the life of two senior citizen women, slapping a Iguana and ordering the hit of a break-dancing soul sounds like a fun time then step on up as you’re definitely not alone.