Bad Lieutenant versus Bad Lieutenant
Harvey Keitel versus Nicolas Cage
Abel Ferrara versus Werner Herzog
I love it when you can compare two takes on the same movie. Let’s talk about Port of Call first. Director Werner Herzog likes to say his 2009 movie is a rethought not a remake of Mr. Ferrara’s 1992 film. And forget about a sequel – definitely not a sequel. I’ll give it to Mr. Herzog, probably rethought is a good word choice. The only thing the two films have in common is the character driven storyline about a bad cop.
As the subtitle implies, the story takes place in NOLA, post Katrina. Mr. Cage plays NOPD Detective, Terrence McDonagh. We’re provided with a backstory that shows McDonagh injuring himself while doing a good deed. This leads to an addiction to pain pills, which then leads to an addiction to everything else and the character spirals downward.
McDonagh is portrayed as basically a good person gone bad due to his addiction. He does do bad things in the course of rounding up bad guys. Incredibly, the Mr. Herzog has managed to inject humor into this dark story. McDonagh is given to occasional hallucinations; these can be very funny scenes. This is a good movie, especially if you are a fan of Mr. Cage’s work. His acting in this film is excellent; his maniacal laughter makes his McDonagh more scary than funny, which is what you want in this movie. Eva Mendes and Val Kilmer put in appearances as prostitute buddy and police partner buddy, respectively, to McDonagh.
If you want to watch both of these movies, watch Port of Call New Orleans first. I’m glad I did. It enabled me to enjoy both movies. That would not have happened if I saw the 1992 version with Harvey Keitel first. One is a good movie, the other is a great movie, and that is the key difference between the two.
Mr. Ferrara provides no backstory to explain or justify The Lieutenant’s (he is not given a name in the movie) bad behavior. He’s just bad, really bad, psychopathically bad. This guy is so bad that he might be refused entrance to Hell by Satin himself. Tension is built throughout the film and you are biting your nails to the end. Mr. Keitel’s acting is beyond great. Somehow he has channeled the anger and evil of the character to the point that you think you might be watching the real thing.
The real thing also occurs the second Zoe Lund enters a frame of film. Ms. Lund, a former musician, model, actress, and screenwriter, took my breath away with her beauty and acting. She is credited as one of the writers of Bad Lieutenant. Her performance is brilliant. She appears in only a couple of scenes as the Lieutenant’s heroin shooting companion. There is a tragic reason that she adds realism to these scenes.
The dual plotlines deal with the Lieutenant’s gambling addiction and the rape of a nun. This film may disturb your religious sensibilities but it is a film about redemption. Just be forewarned, don’t let children near this film. There is male and female full frontal nudity, in addition to vulgar language and disturbing drug scenes. If you can get past these issues you will be rewarded with a outstanding film that will be hard to forget.
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