BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS - Blu-ray review

Abel Ferrera's original "Bad Lieutenant" was a gritty, unflinching portrayal of a corrupt cop with themes of Catholic guilt and uneasy redemption. Harvey Keitel played the unnamed, titular character with an uncompromising bravery in depicting the Lieutenant's disturbing demons. Werner Herzog claims to have not been aware of the original film and his version is neither a remake nor a reboot. It follows the story of yet another tortured police lieutenant. The script was written by William M. Finkelstein whose credits include a number of crime-themed television shows such as "L.A. Law," "NYPD Blue," "Law & Order," and, yes, "Cop Rock." Under the unwieldy title of "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," Herzog crafts a film that isn't so much disturbing as it is an oddball pastiche of noir and black comedy hinged around the human medical experiment known as Nicolas Cage.

Cage's idiosyncratic performances have been both lauded and blasted by critics. At his insistence, Cage ate a live cockroach in "Vampire's Kiss" (it was originally intended to be a raw egg) and his "Not the bees!" act in the "Wicker Man" remake has become popular YouTube fodder. Here, Herzog manages to harness the innate weirdo in Cage into a calculated craziness that is utterly compelling.

Cage is Terence McDonagh, a police detective in New Orleans shortly after the city was savaged by Hurricane Katrina. During the storms, he rescued (though after much debate) a prisoner trapped in his cell as the water rose dangerously high. McDonagh suffers a back injury that leaves him addicted to painkillers and other drugs. It's highly doubtful, however, that he was that nice of a guy before the injury. Awarded a medal and promoted to lieutenant, McDonagh is put in charge of a homicide case where a Senegalese family was murdered by local drug dealer Big Fate (rapper Xzibit). When he's not investigating, McDonagh is stealing narcotics from the evidence room and suffers from addled hallucinations of iguanas. He's deep in gambling debts and inadvertently pisses off a vengeful mobster. When McDonagh is investigating the case, he strong arms an old lady by cutting off her respirator and waving a .44 Magnum in her face. One night, he rousts a pair of club kids and finds a miniscule amount of drugs on their person. He forces the boyfriend to watch as he smokes crack and bangs his girlfriend on the hood of his unmarked police vehicle.

McDonagh has a high-class prostitute girlfriend, Frankie (Eva Mendes), who he eventually hides out with his father. Dad (Tom Bower) is a recovering alcoholic who lives with his ever-soused wife (Jennifer Coolidge) in a mansion in the woods. On the outside, the home is like something out of a Tennessee Williams play, but inside it has all the dark, gloomy charm of a double-wide trailer.

Cage is at his bug-eyed best in "Bad Lieutenant." He lumbers about in a stooped stride like he's the love child of Dirty Harry and Quasimodo. His voice sometimes drifts into a high-pitched tone similar to the Pokey-inspired voice Cage put on in "Peggy Sue Got Married." McDonagh is an ugly human being perfectly at home in the underbelly of a city still struggling to rebuild following a devastating natural disaster. He also fits perfectly well within the canon of Herzogian protagonists of past films. These sort of eccentric individuals drifting on the fringes of society and pushed towards the brink of madness. Yet, they attempt to survive through sheer force of will whether it's dragging a steamship over a mountain, living in the wild with grizzly bears or trying to bring down a drug lord.

While Cage goes as over-the-top as he possibly can, he's balanced out by the understated performances of Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer as a fellow detective, and classic character actor Brad Dourif as McDonagh's pony-tailed bookie.

Herzog adds a surreal touch to the picture with a reptilian fetish that includes a haunting, scene at a traffic accident with a gator lying in the middle of the road with its intestines on the asphalt and a single leg twitching. There's also an interlude of extreme close-ups of iguanas set to Johnny Adams' "Release Me."

Minor spoilers ahead.

Much has been made about the happy ending to "Port of Call." I wasn't sure what to make of it upon my initial viewing and I shared the opinion of others that it may have been a crack-induced fever dream of McDonagh's. Herzog himself has debunked these theories, but I now feel this is the perfect ending for the film, one that is open to interpretation. It could be a dream. It could be a parody. There's an almost slapstick quality to the way the characters file in and out in front of McDonagh's desk. Has McDonagh ultimately been rewarded for his morally questionable behavior? Do two wrongs (or in this instance about ten or eleven) make a right? Or did that one good deed earn him a ticket towards the path of salvation?

Herzog leaves those questions unanswered. It is up to the viewer to decide and that is what any good filmmaker should do.

VIDEO:
"Bad Lieutenant" is presented in a beautiful 1080p transfer with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. For a film with so many ugly moments, it sure looks pretty. There's nary a flaw to be found, but the actors don't have that strange waxy look that sometimes plagues certain high definition transfers.

AUDIO:
The audio is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. "Bad Lieutenant" isn't the kind of rip-roaring action film that will rattle your speakers, but the TrueHD track is well done. The dialogue comes in crisp and clear while the jazzy score certainly sounds sweet.

EXTRAS:
The audio/video presentation is exceptional, but the extras are lacking. The most substantial bonus feature is The Making of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans which runs a little over half an hour. This isn't your standard EPK featurette, but a fly-on-the-wall look at the making of the film with lots of footage of Herzog and his crew at work. It's decent, but what I wouldn't give for a commentary track with Herzog and Cage.

The Blu-Ray also includes a gallery of photo stills by Lena Herzog, theatrical trailers, and previews for other First Look releases.

FILM VALUE:
"It's my lucky crack pipe. You don't have a lucky crack pipe?"

Nicolas Cage is unleashed in "Bad Lieutenant." His performance is just insanely twisted and deliciously fun. However, this isn't a one-man show. Herzog crafts a film that is as equally eerie and oddball as its lead character.