Review of Bad Lieutenant (1992) by Rob S — 12 Nov 2009

The new Nicholas Cage movie is apart of a Bad Lieutenant series that I feel the general population doesn?t realize and really should see these originals to be able to fully appreciate this latest addition. In the original Bad Lieutenant, Harvey Keitel is a gambler, thief, junkie, killer, cop-fucking-badass. As he slips through the cracks of sanity, we watch him deliver an untouchable performance within the role of a lieutenant for the city of New York who is a bigger cockroach to society than the criminals themselves. Taking place during the course of a World Series between the Mets and the Dodgers, Keitel digs himself deeper and deeper into a gambling debt and even deeper into a drug binge that is completely inescapable. This film is done so well that I feel as if the camera views are no more than my eyes sitting shotgun to a man who can get stoned higher than humanly possible and have meltdowns hotter than a volcanic wasteland.

This is a movie that needs more of a personal viewing devotion than the average film to get a desirable bad taste left in your brains limbic system almost permanently. Keitel is one of the best character actors I have ever seen (typically portraying a criminal or a law enforcer, but in my opinion does his best as both) and in this film he does phenomenally great at interacting with everything from bookies, lackeys, prostitutes, petty dealers, gangsters, and fellow cops all as equals within his decrepit world so well that this easily fulfills one of his top 3 roles.

This film is absolutely 100%.