Let’s Talk About…Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans
BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL, NEW ORLEANS (2009/DVD)
From: Brian McClelland
To: Kimberly Faulhaber, Sarah Gremillion
Hello, Ladiez! Have either of you seen Abel Ferrara’s original Bad Lieutenant from 1992? One of the most harrowing tales of drug addiction ever, made even bleaker by the audience’s prolonged exposure to Harvey Keitel’s wiener. (Seriously, I think Keitel must have made the You-Gotta-Show-My-Wiener clause an ironclad contractual requirement for his ‘90s work. Who HASN’T seen it at this point?)
Which brings me to the film that is decidedly NOT a remake of Ferrara’s film—says the director, the awesome German weirdo/genius Werner Herzog—and a different monster altogether tone-wise, but for some reason titled in a way that would, uh, beg to differ: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans. Boy, there really is no possible way to say this title within the confines of casual conversation. It is TEN SYLLABLES LONG, people! But that weird title is par for the course for my fave crazy filmmaker, an eccentric artist who never met a p.o.v. alligator shot or lizard hallucination that he didn’t like.
I think I liked this movie quite a bit more than all y’all, and with no apologies. BL:PoC,NO (that really barely helps…) has a very strange (but surprisingly consistent, I’ve found on subsequent viewings) tone that, well, you’re either going to love or not love whatsoever. The story follows Nic Cage as the titular naughty copper as he struggles with countless mounting addictions whilst somehow still managing to get the bad guys—something his boss seems pleasantly surprised to note. The story is pitched at a dramatic level that I would normally find a bit obnoxiously OTT, but Cage’s unhinged and often hilariously bent performance elevates what could sometimes be veering into cheezeball cop junk (the deliveries of some of Cage’s professional associates are often, ah, stilted) into a hell of an enjoyable ride, maybe three strip club scenes shy of a classier take on Grindhouse territory. And while some of the bit players are a bit hammy, a couple of costars really shine, including a shockingly low-key Val Kilmer as Cage’s partner, and a slyly cool Mr. Pimp My Ride Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner as the gangster Cage is trying to take down.
Nic Cage had a great 2009, with this weirdo tour de force and his more traditional role in the surprisingly emotionally wrenching sci-fi thriller Knowing. And not one wiener shot! Go weirdo! My Grade: SOLID A
Kisses,
Brian
From: Sarah Gremillion
To: Kimberly Faulhaber, Brian McClelland
Brian! I think you’ve been smoking some of the crack that apparently everyone in New Orleans has on them at all times because you’ve got to be kidding me. This movie veered right past cheeseball cop junk and crashed into total nonsense right around the time Cage told his drug addled hooker girlfriend (played by the always forgettable Eva Mendes) the supposedly riveting and heart-warming story of the buried spoon treasure in his father’s tool shed. I’ll agree that Cage is hilariously outrageous throughout, whether he’s shaking down club kids for their aforementioned ubiquitous crack rocks or cutting off an old lady’s oxygen tank for interrogation purposes. You’re right that he’s fascinating and entertaining to watch. BUT, without something – ANYTHING – in the plot or character development to make me understand why the hell any of this is necessary, the performance just becomes clownish to me. I laughed while I was watching this movie, sure, but I was totally laughing at it, not with it. I’m not a Herzog expert by any stretch, so maybe I’m missing something in the style that would be apparent to fans of his.
Spooooon!
I’m also getting a little sick of dramatizations of post-Katrina New Orleans, where everyone might as well be running around with a bowl of gumbo and a voodoo talisman. Turns out there is actual police corruption going on there that is truly frightening and sad, which makes absurd cartoonish portrayals like this one feel a little bit perverse. Sorry to be a bummer or whatever.
Grade: Huh? With partial extra credit for amphibian usage.
Luvs,
Sarah
PS, Can we discuss Cage’s hairpiece, please? What is going on with this man’s head?
From: Kimberly Faulhaber
To: Sarah Gremillion, Brian McClelland
When you guys disagree it makes me feel like this:
Oops, wrong drawing. That one isn’t finished yet. It makes me feel like this:
Your friend,
Kimberly
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