Bad Lieutenant   Starring: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer and Brad Dourif Lionsgate Home Entertainment RRP: £17.99 LGD94263 Certificate: 18 Available 27 September 2010

Following a brave rescue of a trapped inmate during the floods in New Orleans, Terrance McDonagh is injured meaning a life time of pain and medication. Promoted to Lieutenant McDonagh uses his position to procure more drugs to help him cope, soon the drugs take their toll warping his judgement and perceptions. As his life and behaviour spiral out of control his last chance for redemption is to find the killers of an immigrant family and he will stop at nothing...

Bad Lieutenant (2009 - 1 hr, 56 min, 44 sec) is a remake of the 1992 drama, of the same name, directed by Werner Herzog. The film won three awards and was nominated for a further six.

The basic premise is similar to the original film. McDonagh is a deeply flawed, drug taking, amoral character, who when pressed is not above half suffocating an elderly woman for information. But all through the film there are elements of redemption waiting to shine through, including his protection of a prostitute (Eva Mendes) with whom he shares a touching childhood memory.

Nicolas Cage gives a powerful performance as McDonagh, but sadly not as powerful as Harvey Keitel's original, who was a man with no redeeming qualities. I guess that the best reason to remake the film was the involvement of Herzog, who has made some of the most seriously nuts films ever, but even here he shows restraint. There are some surreal drug induced moments, the best of which are the singing iguanas, but even these only achieve the level of odd. Herzog wanted to show the effects of drugs, but this is somewhat redundant given how well this was achieved in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).

Cage is perfect for the role, never afraid to push his performance to the max, he portrays a man driven to solve a crime, even while he is himself unravelling. He steals drugs, uses his position to get sex and has no problems in putting his friend and workmates in compromising positions. Through the film his lack of sleep and paranoia makes his behaviour more erratic and dangerous.

So Herzog gives us a roller coaster ride, which ends in a damp squib. The original film, regardless of the search for redemption, sees the characters shot dead at the end of the film. This version, having headed into violence and madness, suddenly turns one hundred and eighty degrees in the last fifteen minutes to turn what should have been a tragic end to a tragic life to almost every part of his life turning up roses - it just didn’t seem either believable, reasonable or even satisfying.

From a direction and cinematograph pont of view the film cannot be faulted nor can the performances from Cage, Mendes or Val Kilmer, but the end does the film no favours nor does the comparison with the superior original.

The disc contain a few extras, including the inevitable Making of feature (31 min, 12 sec) which has contributions from cast a crew. It's slight, even for the most part ignoring its connection to the original film. There are a couple of short interviews with three of the cast and three of the crew. Whilst there is interest here I did feel a little cheated. Herzog and Cage both have a great deal of experience to share, but what we mostly get is low level chat about the film.

7

Charles Packer