Now Don't get me wrong, the Original Bad Lieutenant -featuring a hard ass, fearless performance by Harvey Keitel as the most crooked cop this side of western civilization- is a classic cult picture of the 1990's & has only garnered more street cred over time. How can anybody forget Keitel's bad cop stopping a girl for speeding and asking her a favour in return (no need to describe the scene, just watch it if you haven't). The film is likely available at any DVD store around your block, if not it's well worth the search.
Last year a loose remake of the 1992 picture came out with troubling Director Abel Ferera replaced by Werner Herzog and Keitel replaced replaced by a trippy out of control Nicolas Cage- my original review can be read HERE. I had the chance over the week to catch up on it again, suffice to say this time around I wasn't as sober as when I originally saw the picture. You see, this isn't a movie that has much in the way of plot. In fact, it is a crazy, maniacal nightmare into the head of a man that has taken way too many drugs for his own good. I'd go as far as to say that one might not necessarily get the picture if they don't understand the experience of being on hallucinogens or are under the influence of it during viewing of the picture.
Last year a loose remake of the 1992 picture came out with troubling Director Abel Ferera replaced by Werner Herzog and Keitel replaced replaced by a trippy out of control Nicolas Cage- my original review can be read HERE. I had the chance over the week to catch up on it again, suffice to say this time around I wasn't as sober as when I originally saw the picture. You see, this isn't a movie that has much in the way of plot. In fact, it is a crazy, maniacal nightmare into the head of a man that has taken way too many drugs for his own good. I'd go as far as to say that one might not necessarily get the picture if they don't understand the experience of being on hallucinogens or are under the influence of it during viewing of the picture.
The more the picture advances, the crazier its plot structure becomes. Cage's bad lieutenant is stuck in a world where reality & dream (or more like nightmare) are coincided one onto the other- which is what might be the defining love it or hate sentiment for the viewer. This is a film that is very much as difficult to watch or in the stoner tradition of Gilliam's Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas. While one might think that I'm talking about a dramatic, serious picture- that would be far from the truth. Bad Lieutenant is very much a comedy of the absurd, one in which its titular character engages in behaviour so ludicrous and shocking that one might just laugh. I know I did & recommend you give this one a look again, to see how there still are original pictures out there. Just get prepared for the absurd and ludicrous.
Noah Baumbach's “Jay Kelly” is joining the Criterion Collection on February 16, 2027. It's one of the headliners of the newly announced February slate, and it's coming out barely a year after Netflix released it.