By Malice Intended

When a film is constructed around a single performance, the rest of the production is sometimes an afterthought.  This is especially true in cases where a film showcases a major star and often results in the performer’s star power being the only saving grace of a film.  However, in the hands of filmmakers who are interested in turning out a well rounded product, the headliner’s performance can serve as an enhancement to an already strong product.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is a very loose remake of Abel Ferrara‘s 1992 film Bad Lieutenant.  It tells the story of Terrence McDonagh (Nicholas Cage), a New Orleans Police Sergeant who receives a medal of honor and promotion to the rank of lieutenant for his heroism during Hurricane Katrina.  He incurs an injury during the line of duty that leads to an addiction to pain medication.  This addiction eventually gives way to harder, illegal drugs.

Complicating matters is McDonagh’s romantic involvement with Frankie Donnenfeld (Eva Mendes), a prostitute who shares his affinity for controlled substances.  McDonagh’s addictions threaten to derail his investigation of drug dealer Big Fate (Xzibit), who is suspected of executing an entire family of African Immigrants.  Terrence’s partner, Stevie Pruit (Val Kilmer), looks on with bemusement as McDonagh’s indulgences cause him to unravel in a spectacular fashion.

Director Werner Herzog and writer William Finkelstein have constructed a film with an identity wholly different from its namesake.  It functions not as an actor’s showcase or a platform for a comeback, but as a portrait of a man coming apart at the seams; his life a train wreck that oddly captivates passersby.  It is the story of a cop who is very effective at his job yet remains a deeply troubled and corrupted soul.

At the eye of the storm is Nicholas Cage, who goes full tilt with this character.  Cage’s penchant for weirdness often seems like an end unto itself, feeling out of place in many of his films.  Not so here.  Terrence McDonagh is a concentrated ball of nervous energy.  Everything he does seems improvised.  He lives moment to moment, allowing his drug addiction and sexual appetite lead him by the nose.  For the first time in a long time, Cages quirks as an actor fall right into step with what one might expect from this kind of character.

William Finklestein avoids turning the plot into a basic whodunit for Terrence to solve, and instead opts to let the story unfold as a series of dilemmas that test Terrence’s wits and patience to the breaking point.  Most of it is self inflicted, and the script makes no attempt to turn Terrence into a sympathetic figure.  Nor does it judge.  In fact, the film shows a gleefully shameless abandon in how it encourages the audience look on at the perverse spectacle.  Werner Herzog facilitates this by allowing certain scenes to veer off into full on absurdity, employing exaggerated camera angles and surreal imagery at points.

The rest of the cast does a serviceable job, but ultimately play second fiddle to Cage’s one man show.  Xzibit shows a casual swagger as Big Fate.  Eva Mendes plays the polar opposite of Cage, reacting to his antics with a calmness that suggests that all of this is rather routine in the life of a high level prostitute.  Val Kilmer is nearly unrecognizable as Stevie Pruit and is given so little screen time that it’s hard to truly judge his performance.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans takes the concept of the police procedural into new and unexpected territory. It finds humor in the darker and more extreme side of the human existence without missing the tragedy of it all.  These are pathetic characters that are fun to observe in their environment.  We all enjoy a peak at the dark side every now and then, if only to satisfy our own morbid curiosity.  Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans understands this need and is more than happy to accommodate it.

Out of 5

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