"His soul is still dancing"

I love unapologetic movies! A lot of times certain aspects don't work, but what does work is that much better. The Bad Lieutenant:Port of Call New Orleans (2009) is one of those films, and despite what works and what doesn't work it is very entertaining.

It takes place in a New Orleans slightly after Hurricane Katrina, nothing is glamorized about the city or its inhabitants. The film isn't gritty in the realistic cinema verite' sense but instead pulpy and dynamic. The director is Werner Herzog a filmmaker that has made it on this blog a lot lately. Herzog is a director that does what he wants to do, weather it is be touching and poignant like in my number 24 best film Grizzly Man or sentimental and ethical as in Invincible. With The Bad Lieutenant Herzog is exploring the line between sanity and insanity and whether it even matters if the final results are positive. And of course there is the crazy Nicolas Cage who takes this already daring film and adds a performance that is brilliantly over the top and unapologetic. If it wasn't for Cage most of the laughs wouldn't hit, and the film would delve into a somber state that would be hard to bare.

Cage plays a drug addicted and obsessive gambling police officer that is simultaneously looking for his next fix as well as solve a murder. He is dating a prostitute played by Eva Mendes (in what is probably her best performance), who runs into troubles of her own, that Cage needs to solve. Ironically though, this movie is not about its plot, which is very tight, but more about Cage's characters process and lifestyle.

Not everything Cage does works perfectly (about half way through I noticed he started talking like Jimmy Stewart for some reason), but as a whole his choices are perfect for this film. I don't think that Cage will be recognized by the Academy for this performance or neccessarily should be, it elevates this film, but when taken by itself it isn't a game changer.

The Bad Lieutenant:Port of Call, New Orleans is one of those rare films where the perfect balance of crazy and pulp works together. There is no way to teach this or any formula to tell you how to balance all these elements to make them work, you just have to go for it and hope for the best.

****