Review of Bad Lieutenant (1992) by Stephen E — 05 Apr 2012

Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant is a flat-out masterpiece that you will probably hate. If you cannot handle violence, explicit drug use, or sex, do not watch it. If you think that every movie needs to have a clear-cut narrative and likable characters, do not watch it. If you want every movie to to spell out its message for you and not demand any digging on your part, do not watch it. If, however, you are capable of stomaching disturbing material (the film earns its NC-17) and are willing to follow a character who lives up to the term "bad" in every meaning of the word, then check it out.

Harvey Keitel is our title character - a drug-addicted, gambling-addicted, sex-addicted corrupt cop on the edge. He lets off drug dealers in return for drugs. He takes the loot from a drug-store robbery and tells the robbers to beat it. He's in way over his head in gambling debts. In the films most famous scene, he pulls over two underage teenage-girls driving without a license, He doesn't actually touch either of them, but what he does will stay in your memory for a long time.

A nun is raped. At first he doesn't particularly care ("Girls get raped every day, and now we're putting up 50 Gs just 'cause these girls wear penguin suits"), but soon the lieutenant (a Catholic) is drawn to the case. The nun knows who the attackers are, but refuses to name them because she forgives them. The lieutenant can't believe that. If they can be forgiven for their horrible crime, maybe he can be forgiven.

This movie is gritty. Made on a budget of just one million dollars, several scenes are shot in public areas without permits, to save time and money.

Harvey Keitel gives perhaps the greatest performance of his career. He's raw and honest and makes no attempt to soften the character. He's absolutely dedicated, even to the point of famously doing full-frontal nudity. Few actors would be willing to show themselves in this light. It's a fearless performance. He deserved an Oscar. The fact that he wasn't even nominated is one of the Academy's most ridiculous oversights in my book.

Ferrara co-wrote the film with Zoe Lund, star of his excellent 1981 thriller Ms. 45. Here, she plays a drug connection for our hero. Lund was a real-life drug addict, and she would eventually die because of it in 1999 at the age of 37.

Bad Lieutenant is not for the faint of heart. But those who can stomach it and approach it with an open mind will find it powerful and intriguing. Keitel's performance alone is worth recommending the film. But everything else comes together to make it a hard-hitting masterpiece that asks tough moral questions and resists easy answers. I can't recommend it enough.