It's as if Nurse Jackie morphed into a male cop and The Sopranos relocated to post-Katrina New Orleans. Add collisions. There in a nutshell is the set-up for Herzog's Bad Lieutenant (2009), scripted well by William M. Finkelstein. Great stuff, with nice performances by the whole cast, including Nicolas Cage (wonderful and droll), Val Kilmer, Detroit-born Xzibit, Jennifer Coolidge (also wonderful and droll), Eva Mendes, Fairuza Balk, Detroit-born Vondie Curtis-Hall, and Tom Bower plus grand eccentrics Brad Dourif and Michael Shannon. Nor can we forget Tim Bellow as "G" (always called out with maniacal laughter by Cage) and Lucius Baston as "Midget."
Without spoiling the twists and turns of this enjoyably dark little New Orleans tale, I'll just say keep your eyes out for a swimming snake, pensive iguanas and an observant alligator.
Herzog uses and subverts the typical conventions of the crime drama in memorable ways; he also subverts the earlier Bad Lieutenant (starring Harvey Keitel) -- intentionally or not. Good soundtrack by Mark Isham (who also covered The Times of Harvey Milk and many more). Herzog always pays attention to details, visual and aural, to great effect. Official website: http://www.badlt.com/
Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune.
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