This film was directed by Werner Herzog and stars Nicolas Cage with support from Eva Mendes and Val Kilmer. It shares part of a title and the concept of a corrupt cop with the 1992 film The Bad Lieutenent starring Harvey Keitel.

Herzog has stated he doesn’t consider this film a re-make. Check out this quote from Wikipedia about the reaction of Abel Ferrara, the director of the first film:

Abel Ferrara, director of the 1992 film, has been quoted by various media outlets as being very angry about this film. After the film was first announced, Ferrara was quoted as saying “As far as remakes go, … I wish these people die in Hell. I hope they’re all in the same streetcar, and it blows up.” When asked later for his response to Ferrara’s statements, Herzog stated that he does not know who Ferrara is, saying “I’ve never seen a film by him. I have no idea who he is.”^[13] At a press conference at the Venice Film Festival after the film’s premiere, Herzog said of Ferrara, “I would like to meet the man,” and “I have a feeling that if we met and talked, over a bottle of whiskey, I should add, I think we could straighten everything out.”

That said, Bad Lieutenent: Port of Call New Orleans is a good but not great film. The stand-out elements of the film are Nicolas Cage’s performance, which was really fantastic, and the cinematography, which I thought was excellent. On the negative side, the film needs some firm editing, and the ending is limp at best. There were parts of this film when I couldn’t decide if it was a comedy or not, and I think that edge is explored nicely for a chunk of the film.

All that said, I think this film is well worth seeing. By the way, there is an interesting musical highlight in the film – Sonny Terry’s incredible “Hootin the Blues” harmonica solo is used during a key scene.

On the 5-fish anchovy rating scale, I give this one a solid 3 salties.