Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Cafe Society
#1

Being a fan of Werner’s, I was curious to see how this would turn out. I’m not really sure how to describe it; it’s almost like a David Lynch film at times. Nic Cage’s performance is remarkable, he’s so over the top–but it fits the mood of the movie perfectly. He’s totally zonked out, channelling some odd mixture of Kinski and Jimmy Stewart (he has a wierd drawl that he slips into and out of at random moments throughout the movie).

The story line isn’t anything special. The real attractions are the offbeat characters and Herzog’s vision (he says the movie really has nothing to do with the 1992 “original”). There just aren’t too many directors that use reptile-POV scenes these days. I think that the SFGate review summed it up nicely this way: “There are moments where you’ll swear that Herzog hired Gary Busey as his cinematographer, recruited Dennis Hopper to punch up the script and then fed them both peyote.”

I’m not sure I could really recommend it, but the reviews have been pretty good. It was funny to hear a couple of people comment when they were leaving the theater, “What the hell was that all about?” :stuck_out_tongue:

#2

Sounds interesting. I’m glad to see Nic Cage returning to movies that only he can do, rather than wasting his talents on roles that could as easily have been played by the likes of Tom Hanks or Hugh Grant.

#3

I agree - I prefer Cage in roles where he isn’t forced to pretend he’s a sane human being.

#4

You guys might like Lord of War, another recent film Nic Cage did where he was correctly cast and didn’t have to pretend to be normal.

#5

Good example, Mahaloth. I liked that one a lot. It’s about his only Cage-worthy role since Bringing Out The Dead.

#6

Could someone explain what actually happened? He suddenly gets everything his way to the point that I thought it was a dream sequence, then he’s back busting people just to steal their drugs, then a convict he helped thanks him and they watch fish in a giant aquarium. What’s this narrative? I honestly don’t get it.

#7

It was an interesting film, but I didn’t get all of it, though.

#8

See, I said it was like a David Lynch film! :stuck_out_tongue:

I don’t have an explanation. I can’t find a Herzog interview that explains it either – but this one is pretty interesting:

WERNER HERZOG BRINGS THE MUSIC BACK

#9

Is it any relation to that other Bad Lieutenant movie? And if not, why did someone feel they had to use that title yet again? It’s so…odd.

#10

Damn. I was hoping this would be a thread about the bar and grill.

#11

So this director is something like David Lynch, who doesn’t seem to make movies so that people can enjoy them, but as some sort of jazz riff on a theme of life, not much caring if the narrative resolves or even is coherent.

I’m just too literal minded for this, and it drives me up the wall. Good metaphors and allegories I like, but, “Ah, it just completed the mood, no matter what it did to the story” I just don’t get.