Karma Police
Werner Herzog once ate a shoe on camera after losing a bet.
Nicolas Cage starred in Con Air…and 8MM…and Ghost Rider…and not one, but two National Treasure films. The list of travesties could go on and on…though I jest the National Treasure films; they are good family fun even though they are so sloppily put together.
Clearly both men are insane.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (henceforth referred to as BLt: PoCNO) is a film to watch not just for the decent into bizarro world offered up by a collaboration between German Auteur Herzog and Hollywood Movie Star Cage, it’s a film to savor for all of its layers of interesting elements.
If you think that Nicolas Cage’s inexplicable role as ACTION STAR! is a perverse manifestation of his Id, and it is his Ego that has treated us to such amazing performances in movies like Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation, then BLt: PoCNO is the film for you. His Ego is boldly on display here as Lt. Terence McDonagh, and his performance is magnificent.
Meanwhile, Herzog has been better known of late for his documentary work in films like Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World. But let’s not forget that sandwiched between those films was a dramatic reworking of his previous documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly that resulted in the superb POW tale Rescue Dawn. Here, Herzog reworks a bit of Abel Ferrara’s 1992 film Bad Lieutenant. However, the first thing to notice about Herzog’s film is that in the credits the full title is THE Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. With the simplicity of the added “the” the director makes it clear this is not a remake or homage, but a reworking of the same theme…another look at the good cop gone bad.
One of the most interesting aspects is how well toned the film is to the genre conventions of the dirty cop opus. Herzog lays in some surrealism in a few masterfully done hallucination scenes, but it is wonderfully understated and never dives into the same realms of insanity something like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas inhabited. There’s always the case that Cage’s Terence McDonagh is working on that brings him back into reality where a bust, a shake-down, a hit or a crash into his personal life is waiting around every corner. There’s one scene early on where Terence is busting a young couple leaving a club that goes too far, but in a way it shows how desensitized we have become to the graphic details of these stories where the cops are just as rotten as the criminals. Herzog wisely never wallows in the inherent despair of this scenario.
The New Orleans setting is a perfect mirror for Terence McDonagh. Like him, the city was corrupt, suffered a terrible blow (Hurricane Katrina for the city or a back injury for Terence), and then became even more corrupt. Yet all along the way, Terence tried to do the right thing. It’s just that for every right thing he did, there were a dozen bad things he had to do as well. Herzog cleverly plays with the idea of karma. For someone like Terence, you would think karma would be a bitch (as the old adage goes) but there’s a reason Herzog’s camera lingers on an engraving above a courthouse that reads, “This is a government not of man, but of law.” And he seems to imply that the law of karma is just. The good things Terence does either to atone or because deep down he’s really not so bad (it’s the drugs, man) outweigh his heinous deeds. The most surprising thing about the film is its underlying message that even in the most willfully corrupt of situations the universe will serve up not just hope but justice. However, just when you think everything is tidying up a little too neatly, Herzog delivers an ambiguous ending that shows there is always hope for redemption or a better life, but sometimes some people never change.
With a great music score from Mark Isham, an excellent supporting cast (including comedienne Jennifer Coolidge in a rare dramatic turn and Eva Mendes — a gorgeous actress tailor made for these “girlfriend” roles), and a respect for the conventions of the genre while simultaneously turning that genre on its head, BLt: PoCNO is a good movie about a bad cop. Herzog’s direction and Cage’s performance give the discerning cinephile much to think about…and that is something that should always be celebrated.
Written by David H. Schleicher
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SIDE NOTE: I saw the film at the Ritz at the Bourse in Philly on a lazy Monday afternoon off from work. (Aren’t those the best kinds of Mondays?) I’ve been a frequent patron to the Ritz Five and Ritz East for years, but this was my first time seeing something at the Bourse where escalators take you underground to the nicely appointed screening rooms. Of the three art-house staples in the city (all located within a few blocks of each other), the Ritz at the Bourse might be the nicest. Check out the full lineup at the Ritz Theaters at their website.
The Schleicher Spin 
Cage is one of those actors who has managed to have split his career between serious work and commercial, though lately he seems to be leaning more toward the commercial. He is one of the quirkiest actors around today. I am hoping this film will open here in my neck of the woods, (Tampa Bay area) but I tend to think even if it does it will have a limited showing.
John, yeah, the release plan has been frustratingly limited for this. –DHS
Yes indeed David, it’s that surreealism and Hunter S. Thompsonish character metamorphosis that sets this one apart. You have written a celebratory piece here, and as you know I am also a big fan. You make an excellent, important point there about Herzog “never wallowing in despair.” That’s really what sets the tone for this one, where the police procederals are really beside the point. I forgot to mention Isham’s score, but again I completely agree. Excellent, most engaging read. I also am hoping John gets the chance to see this one, as I do believe he will also be a big fan.
Sam, I tried really hard not to talk about the scene with the iguanas “singing” RELEASE ME, but, man, that was a golden scene. As was the “soul dancing” of course — what energy! But I loved how non-chalant and understated the approach was to those scenes. They could’ve easily gone over the top, but they just were there…as is. Herzog did a great job. –DHS
Hi! D.H.Schleicher,
I read your review yesterday, but I wanted to step back and reread your review again…before I commented.
All I can really say is that I did not know what direction you were going with your review, after I
read this…
…Nic tells Eva, “If you look real close, baby, you can see where my career went up in smoke.”
Werner Herzog once ate a shoe on camera after losing a bet.
Nicolas Cage starred in Con Air…and 8MM…and Ghost Rider…and not one, but two National Treasure films. The list of travesties could go on and on…though I jest the National Treasure films; they are good family fun even though they are so sloppily put together.
Clearly both men are insane…”
(Laughter!) lol!!!!
but the more I read your review I see that you were going in a positive direction.
Therefore, I will probably seek this film out to watch too!
D.H.said, “I saw the film at the Ritz at the Bourse in Philly on a lazy Monday afternoon off from work. (Aren’t those the best kinds of Mondays?) I’ve been a frequent patron to the Ritz Five and Ritz East for years…”
Oh! Yes, it seem like you had a pleasant Monday afternoon outing. I also visited the link…the Ritz at the Bourse, look(s) beautiful.
Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee 😉
DeeDee, yes, I did the old switcheroo there…I really enjoyed the film. I imagine you might enjoy some of the neo-noir elements (which Sam talks about in his review more). –DHS
Herzog lays in some surrealism in a few masterfully done hallucination scenes, but it is wonderfully understated and never dives into the same realms of insanity something like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas inhabited.
Definitely, although I enjoyed this a bit more than “Fear and Loathing,” and maybe even a bit more than — *gasp* — “Wild at Heart” as well, for the simple reason that the humor here is so impeccably balanced. I actually felt the ending a bit ridiculous in its essay at symmetry (as one would expect of a more “commercial” action film) but the remainder of the movie is quite tightly-wound structurally, even as it butterflies off into trippy madness. There’s also a subtle innocence here that buttresses the seedy aspects with calm delight — Herzog and Cage are clearly relishing this milieu, this genre exercise, for what it is, and it’s not at all a condescending kind of joy. The result is a scene where the titular character shakes down a drugged up couple for a hit and forces the male at gunpoint to watch while he gets sexually aggressive with the fairly receptive girlfriend — and it’s genuinely funny, partially because it’s an act of such bombastic “badness” that we don’t quite believe it (ie, I kind of liked how it went “too far,” though the gratuity you note could certainly be read as a misstep). And ultimately the film’s superficiality does get in the way of its success as anything more than a jokey ersatz-noir/thriller/action/etc, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t the best jokey ersatz-noir/thriller/action/etc I’ve seen in a long while. Great write-up, Señor Schleicher!
Jon, wow, I can’t believe I didn’t think of Cage in Lynch’s Wild at Heart — talk about over the top! Yup, yup…it was all about the balance here with Herzog…and the paradoxical good-natured fun of watching these two guys riff on the dirty cop genre. Great stuff. –DHS
This one looks really interesting. Even though it’s often been the case that the stories behind them are ‘bigger’ than the films themselves, I’m a huge fan of Herzog. Aguirre is a sensationally ambitious and devastating piece of work- like Ken Loach doing The Ten Commandments, and as far as I’m concerned the much more low-key Stroszek has never been given the kudos it deserves as a major influence on the late 70s and 1980s US indie scene. I also love that Herzog’s aged so well and continued to make great films, when he could have just faded away and rested on his laurels as a German New Wave legend. So I’m eager to see how this one turns out.
But, I must say, the presence of Nicolas Cage doesn’t do much to inspire me. I watched Leaving Las Vegas again recently, after having loved it first time round, and could not believe how much I’d overrated his performance. I can only put it down to me being swept along with the hype that went around him and the film, but on second viewing it all seemed like a case of Emperor’s New Clothes. But I suppose if anyone can coax something worthwhile out of him it’s Herzog.
I’m struggling to understand the point of the Bad Lieutenant reference though- why bother? The Keitel version is one I watched again recently, and it stood up much better than I expected it to, so it’s going to be pretty difficult for me to not compare Cage with Keitel.
Andrew, somewhere else I saw a blogger recommend the Bad Lieutenant title be used on a whole series of films…each one a different auteur tackling the same character archetype in a different city…for instance…Michael Mann doing Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call Los Angeles starring…I dunno, just for kicks…Will Smith. –DHS
Oh, how I loved this film. I admit a Herzog bias, but even above Scorsese he’s a filmmaker who cannot help but be fascinating in everything he does. I loved how Cage played Terrence like some voodoo devil unleashed in Katrina’s flood, but he also had his touching moments, such as that bit between Frankie and him about his childhood looking for “treasure” and that bit near the beginning where he proves a great (and reasonable) interrogator.
Jake, I am totally with you on all counts. The bit with the “childhood treasure” and “the spoon” between Terrence and Frankie was shockingly touching…Herzog reminding us that even in the most absurd of situations, there are human beings at play. –DHS