The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)

Directed by: Werner Herzog
Starring: Nicolas Cage

****1/2

No disrespect to Herzog's success in making a raw, gritty and unforgiving crime caper but Nicolas Cage takes this relatively simple story and makes it a fantastic character piece. Watching Cage perform the way he's capable really makes one wonder why he wastes so much of our and his own time with so much crap. Fortunately, I bought into his character so much here, I didn't have to bother myself with that during the two hours of Cage being the good... the great Cage.

I've not seen the 1992 Bad Lieutenant starring Harvey Keitel so I can't comment on any originalinality of the 2009 version but the story of Terrance McDonagh (Cage) investigation into the massacre of a family isn't what I was really following. I was following the progression of a newly promoted Lieutenant, recognized for his bravery in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as his addictions to prescription drugs, cocaine, heroin... well pretty much all of them, turns him into a guy who'll do anything to get what he wants.

I didn't get the impression that McDonagh was a by the book type cop prior to his back injury that got him an endless supply of vicoden, but I did recognize that he went from abusing his power as a police officer in order to solve crimes and do his job to abusing that power for money and drugs and sex. I almost respected what he did because I admired his policing abilities. What ended up being so amazing is how much I continued to like him despite the sleazeball he turned into. We have Cage's performance and the structure of the story to thank for that.

Everything begins with the massacre which McDonagh is investigating but its the one thing leads to another structure that drives the story forward. McDonagh is very clearly a loner and not much of a people person but his relationships with his girlfriend Frankie (Eva Mendes) and his father are critical in everything he does. His investigation gets him some easy access to drugs which he uses recreational with Frankie, whom he also has to protect from disrespectful gentleman suitors she sees professionally, which leads to threats that will only go if payoffs are made which leads to some serious gambling debt which leads him to teaming up with the very guy he's investigating for the murders. While watching the film, however, things are not so black and white. Its seamless, its fluid and it uses the character of McDonagh to make everything plausible.

I can't say enough about Cage in this film. With the exception of sounding like Jimmy Stewart on a number of occasions (which didn't hurt the performance, it was just weird) he was spectacularly convincing. I never believed that McDonagh's drug use made him the Bad Lieutenant. It's his purpose as he explains to a murder suspect prior to arresting him as he smokes a joint. McDonagh always has a purpose for everything he does and nothing is going to get in the way of that. A lot of movies use drugs as the excuse for a downfall of a character. That's not inappropriate but because McDonagh has a purpose, he doesn't destruct, he flourishes.

So Cage is a sure fire best actor nominee this year and Bad Lieutenant is a top film of the year. I credit Cage's performance but Herzog did make a great movie. Its dark and deliberate and most importantly, structured and entertaining. It had all the elements of a great movie, drama, suspense, mystery, humor and while no one scene had the best of any of those qualities, its how it works as a whole that counts.