Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans (2009)

Directed by: Werner Herzog | 122 minutes | crime, drama | Actors: Nicolas Cage, Val Kilmer, Eva Mendes, Jennifer Coolidge, Fairuza Balk, Brad Dourif, Michael Shannon, Shawn Hatosy, Denzel Whitaker, Xzibit, Katie Chonacas, Shea Whigham, Brandi Coleman, Tom Bower, Irma P. Hall

According to director Werner Herzog, “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans” is not a remake or a direct sequel to Abel Ferrara’s 1992 cult classic “Bad Lieutenant” starring Harvey Keitel in the title role. In fact, Herzog would never have seen this film about a self-defeating police officer. Apparently it was the idea of ​​producer Edward R. Pressman who was also involved as a producer on the first film and we should think of this last film as a sort of thematic sequel. In the spirit of, say, and then for a wider audience. In short, Ferrara’s film is about self-defilement and ultimately redemption, while Herzog shifts the emphasis to a theme that we encounter more often with him, namely “man crawls through the eye of a needle”. Think, for example, of the prisoner of war and escape film ‘Rescue Dawn’.

‘Port of Call – New Orleans’ is also a lot more light-hearted thanks to Nicolas Cage who gets back to his usual repertoire of crazy faces in this rendition of a policeman who begins to develop psychopathic traits due to stress and drugs and no longer takes it too seriously. the rules of the law. The setting is New Orleans, the city that after the flood of 2005 has become a symbol of neglect and moral decay. Cage as an over-the-top, small-hearted character is the type of role he has become famous for and excels in. So very nice to see him again doing what he is good at; Pay special attention to his insane facial expression as he goes wild on two elderly women who hinder him from doing his job.

Val Kilmer has also been taken out of the fat and because he has to play a “bad cop” here too, he doesn’t have to do his best to look like a “pretty boy”. And so there is always a second life for the male actors in Hollywood.

Who does have to look good is Eva Mendes, again in a role that has little to do. As usual, she plays a naughty dream girl, and this time she does it quite decently, even though she gets little to work with, other than a rusty spoon, from a sentimental Cage, which she’s supposed to look at in amazement. what the drugs do to you… There are also now and then those typical Herzog intermezzos in which a crocodile or two iguanas suddenly play a role.

After all, ‘Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans’ is a very entertaining and exciting crime thriller or drama in which the main character’s psychological descent into hell is central. But unlike the darker and more tragic film by Abel Ferrara, in ‘Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans’ there is a glimmer of hope and there is room for a nice dose of black humor and that is also possible with the tragicomic clown. cage.