In Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Nicolas Cage plays a homicide cop who injures his back on the job, then becomes addicted to painkillers and harder drugs. Crazy with power and a jones for dope, he tries to solve the slaying of a family of immigrants. Complex breaks down director Werner Herzog's movie so you know whether to buy it, rent it, or avoid it altogether. Keep reading for five key facts you should know about the movie, our verdict, Buy It Now links, and a trailer...
#1: IT'S NOT A REMAKE!
• Contrary to popular confusion, Herzog's movie is not a "remake" of director Abel Ferrara's 1992 Bad Lieutenant, in which Harvey Keitel played a thieving, drug and gambling addict cop. Cage's drug-addicted, morally corrupt Lieutenant Terence McDonagh is merely inspired by him—which is good, because these po-po might suck a glass dick, but remakes just suck a hairy one.
#2: OVERACTING IS GOOD!
• Bad Lieutenant is the rare movie in which Cage's hammy overacting, seen in cinematic turds like National Treasure, Wicker Man, and Ghost Rider, makes perfect sense and is absolutely awesome and hilarious. But then you can never over-act a cop who smokes rock and hallucinates iguanas and breakdancing dead people.
#3: THERE'S NO PENIS!
• Unlike Keitel, whose contract stipulates that he must always do full-frontal nudity, Cage didn't cast his penis as a supporting actor.
#4: IT PIMPS XZIBIT'S CAREER!
• Life after candy-painted hatchbacks with carnival games hydraulically popping out the back is better than you'd expect for Xzibit, who shines as a drug dealer and homicide suspect.
#5: NEW ORLEANS REALNESS!
• Herzog gets props for shooting the film in the wreckage of post-Katrina New Orleans (there are also cool photos taken of the city and the production in the extra features). Word to Jackie Chan's Rumble in the Bronx, this isn't New York via Canadian sound stage.
Buy, Rent, or Avoid?: Buy
Click here to buy the Blu-ray now at Amazon.com for $14.99.
Click here to buy the DVD now at Amazon.com for $14.99.
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