Bad Lieutenant (DVD)

Over the past decade, it’s safe to say that Nicholas Cage has drifted away from the sterling material he’d previously been attached to and meandered dangerously and inexplicably towards a quagmire of mainstream tat. It’s been a bizarre career detour to say the least. That said, while the overall quality of the last ten years has included some dips that are sudden enough to make your stomach do somersaults, his performances have remained consistently sound. As such, when he turns up in a film that’s actually pretty good, it’s a pleasant, almost nostalgic surprise.

Thankfully, Bad Lieutenant falls neatly into that ever shrinking category. It’s a ballsy, gritty, darkly funny look at a rogue cop’s descent into his own personal drug addled chaos – brought to life perfectly by Cage, who plays the titular detective with a wild-eyed vigour that hasn’t really been seen since he played Castor Troy in Face/Off. Throw into that mix a sense of inner turmoil that reeks of Leaving Las Vegas and you soon find yourself tricked into giving a shit about a deadbeat cop who will screw over anybody in order to keep crack in his lungs, coke in his nose and brown in his veinsm as he smugly shields himself from the consequences with his police badge. It’s oddly visceral and deeply engrossing stuff for a film that’s been marketed so clearly towards a mainstream audience as a pseudo noir crime comedy.

Taking nothing from Abel Ferrara’s cult classic other than the name and the theme, Werner Herzog’s effort introduces us to a dark, seedy post-Katrina New Orleans, where crime and corruption are rife. As the city threatens to succumb to the lowlifes and the criminal underworld, New Orleans turns to its prime hero - a maniac cop with a bad back, an addiction to a smorgasbord of narcotics, a fondness for hookers and absolutely zilch in the way of morals.

Featuring stark visuals and a harsh, snappy and ultimately hilarious script, Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant is arguably a far more engaging animal that its namesake. It’s just a shame that it never got the marketing it so badly needed in the UK for the theatrical release. Nevertheless, if you haven’t already seen it, it’s well worth picking it up on DVD on account of both the film and the extras too.  Sure, all you get is a ‘making of’ doc and a handful of cast and crew interviews, but the disc is worth the asking price on account of Nic Cage’s gabbing about his method. In all, it makes for a superb disc that just demands your attention and won’t let go of your balls until the credits roll. 

Overall Verdict: A grim, seedy and superb slice of tongue-in-cheek noir excellence that’ll stomp over most peoples’ expectations.

Special Features:
‘Making Of’ Featurette
Cast and Crew Interviews

Reviewer: Jordan Brown