Review of Bad Lieutenant (1992) by Ryan H — 24 Jun 2012

Well, he's definitely not a good lieutenant, that's for sure. The descriptions of this film always talk about how it's a cop working on the case of a nun who was raped and he seeks forgiveness.

That works for the last thirty minutes of the film. Perhaps what they should say is that it's about a corrupt cop who indulges in his gambling and drug addictions. That's probably a better explanation.

He doesn't really seek to repent until much later. In fact, I think it would be much more interesting to sit through the film and figure out if he's going to try and change, or if the conclusion will be him getting busted.

Harvey Keitel puts on a hell of a performance here. His cries are basically quick bursts of him moaning. There are two scenes that come to mind here: the dancing scene in the bedroom with two girls, then he's naked and swaying alone.

The second one is when he sees Jesus towards the end. Abel Ferrara does an excellent job taking you through the life of a messed up guy without needing much of a story. We're interested in how the Dodgers and Mets games will end up.

When things start out the game reflects the Lieutenants life. He used to be a good guy, probably the best of his kind, but lately he's found himself in a slump that's almost impossible to get out of.

When Strawberry misses a hit on purpose to save up for the big game, the Lieutenant does something bad because he's saving up for when he's really going to change (I believe this is when he shoots up heroin at the woman's house).

We see him smoke crack, shoot heroin, jerk off to young girls that are trying to get out of a ticket, staring at a naked nun, etc. After he has dug himself $120,000 in debt he starts realizing his life is in a shithole and no one is around to relieve him.

However, the nun has forgiven the guys that have raped her and she doesn't want to give away the names. What's done is done. He can't accept this. How can he be screwed up internally and not be able to run away from his sins, but these guys get let off so easily? He yells at Jesus because he's down in the dumps and not even Jesus can save him anymore.

It's a pretty powerful scene. And then he tries to teach the rapists a lesson, but instead drives them out of town and tells them to never come back. It seems like he has gone off the wall and can't control himself.

We fear he will shoot them. What will a guy do when driven to his edge? The ending might seem depressing that after he lets the guys go he gets shot in his car and everyone just stares at him, but that might be the best possible ending for him.

His kids could have gotten killed for his debt. But now with him gone they have a chance of moving on. Sad, tough, but interesting. I found this to be another film that's better than I first expected.