(2009) 2 Phillip Maher Is it possible to write a raving two-star review? With this bewildering chimera of a movie, Werner Herzog has proven that he is incapable of making a boring film. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans succeeds brilliantly as failure, as Herzog and the terrifically inept Nicolas Cage manipulate the conventions of the police genre for their own personal amusement, foregoing the standard tedium of inflated narrative tension and score-driven suspense in favor of moments of delirious dissonance and peculiar humor. The film's relation to its predecessor, Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant, is never quite clear, other than the presence of a police protagonist with a penchant for cheap sex, expensive drugs, and gambling on sports. Cage hobbles through the title role of Lieutenant Terence McDonagh like a crackhead Quasimodo, ingesting a chemical mélange of substances to stave off the pain of a chronic back injury as he tries to solve the brutal slaying of a Senegalese family in New Orleans. Cage visibly sheds charisma as the film progresses, devolving from a cocky showboat cop into a squawking dope who desperately projects false bravado and periodically erupts with awkward bursts of incoherent gibberish. Herzog gleefully feeds his scene-chewing star, adding to the already hallucinatory atmosphere of New Orleans with some incongruous iguanas, one alligator carcass, and the incomparable Brad Dourif. Val Kilmer makes an appearance, confirming rumors that he is still alive, and Eva Mendes smolders quite adequately as McDonagh's requisite prostitute/girlfriend. Herzog drives the preposterous plot off the rails early, and then begins discarding seemingly essential narrative elements like ballast from a sinking ship. For instance, while McDonagh is in the midst of a heated interrogation, trying to locate an elusive suspect, the wanted man simply walks into the police station and surrenders. Later, a key witness to the crime vanishes from McDonagh's custody, and is quickly forgotten. Herzog shreds the potboiler drama like wrapping paper, unveiling absurd little gifts like a twitching close-up of the aforementioned iguanas, an obnoxious arcade machine that mechanically chants, "Insert more coins! Insert more coins!" -- and 2009's most quotable movie line: "Shoot him again! His soul is still dancing." As the convoluted delta of assorted plotlines empty into a glimmering gulf of a finale, Herzog manages to skewer both the Hollywood happy ending and the Bush administration's response to Katrina. If Herzog's goal was to craft a compelling police drama, then he failed miserably, but if he intended to create a magnificent cinematic mess, then mission accomplished!

cast-crew for Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans on AllMovie

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

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Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

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Violence
Profanity
Sexual Situations
Drug Content

genres

Drama

sub-genres

category

Feature

directed by

Werner Herzog

countries

USA

release date

November 20, 2009 (USA - Limited)

run time

121 min.

produced by

Osiris Productions, Polsky Films, Saturn Films

released by

First Look Studios, Millennium Films, Nu Image Films

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cast

Nicolas Cage: Terence McDonagh

Eva Mendes: Frankie Donnenfield

Val Kilmer: Stevie Pruit

Xzibit: Big Fate

Fairuza Balk: Heidi

Shawn Hatosy: Armand Benoit

Jennifer Coolidge: Genevieve

Tom Bower: Pat McDonagh

Vondie Curtis-Hall: Capt. James Brasser

Brad Dourif: Ned Schoenholtz

Denzel Whitaker: Daryl

Irma P. Hall: Binnie Rogers

Shea Whigham: Justin

Michael Shannon: Mundt

Joe Nemmers: Larry Moy

J.D. Evermore: Rick Fitzsimon

Tim Bellow: G (Gary Jenkins)

Lucius Baston: Midget

Lauren Swinney: Antoinette

Nick Gomez: Evaristo Chavez

William M. Finkelstein: Dave Jacobs

Samuel Medina: Andy

Lance E. Nichols: Jeremiah Goodhusband

Tony Bentley: Hurley

Jeremy Aaron Johnson: Yasco

Bernard "Bunchy" Johnson: Dub

Matt Borel: Bernie

Gary Grubbs: Chief of Police

J. Omar Castro: First Narcotics Detective

Kerry Cahill: Second Narcotics Detective

Noel Arthur: Renaldo Hayes

Douglas M. Griffin: Sergeant

Lauren Whitney Pennington: Woman

Dane Rhodes: Bettor

Jedda Jones: Civilian Aide

Don Yesso: Client

Trey Burvant: Dealer

Robert Pavlovich: Dr. Milburn

Marco St. John: Eugene Gratz

David Joseph Martinez: Juan Michel

Danielle Elaine McAllister: Kim

Kyle Clements: Lawrence

Dorinda Deena Beasley: Maimouna

Deneen D. Tyler: Pharmacist

Roger Timber: Security Guard

Joshua Gillum: Host

Sean Boyd: Lt. Stoyer

Katie Chonacas: Tina

Brandi Coleman: Yvonne

Michael Zimbrich: Waiter

Trenton Perez: Boy

Stephanie Honoré: Girl

crew

Werner Herzog: Director
Alan Polsky: Producer
Edward R. Pressman: Producer
Gabe Polsky: Producer
John Thompson: Producer
Randall Emmett: Producer
Stephen Belafonte: Producer
William M. Finkelstein: Screenwriter
Peter Zeitlinger: Cinematographer
Mark Isham: Composer (Music Score)
Joe Bini: Editor
Tony Corbett: Production Designer
Alessandro Camon: Executive Producer
Avi Lerner: Executive Producer
Boaz Davidson: Executive Producer
Danny Dimbort: Executive Producer
Elliot Lewis Rosenblatt: Executive Producer
Trevor Short: Executive Producer
Jill Newell: Costume Designer
Johanna Ray: Casting
Russell Towery: Stunts Coordinator