Like the original, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans focuses on a corrupt cop in post-Katrina New Orleans, Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage), who turns to drugs to help deal with pain following a back injury. Terence eventually turns to harder drugs, leading him to the life of a dirty cop. He's a compulsive gambler and willing to do anything to get his next fix. Following a brutal murder, Terence is forced to not only evade the criminal underworld but his own police force in order to keep his addiction a secret and protect his prostitute girlfriend, Frankie (Eva Mendes).
Bad Lieutenant isn't a total loss - it just tries too hard. I'm always a bit iffy on post-Katrina anything, but Herzog manages to paint a somewhat believable portrait of the city. Naturally, it's an outsider's view that doesn't quite match up to reality, but it gets enough right that I was able to let some of the more glaring issues and uninformed issues slide.
Where Bad Lieutenant gets off track is in trying to capture the same "grit" as its predecessor. Like the original's unnamed protagonist, Terence is rotten to the core and generally unsympathetic. His moral compass is completely skewed, leading him to commit despicable acts, such as threatening the elderly or forcing a woman to publically perform sexual acts. This is no different than the original (though Ferrara went much, much further...), but where Herzog's visor derails is the lack of an underlying theme.
The original was ultimately about Catholic guilt while Herzog's is just about the acts. There are attempts to develop an underlying message about the evils of addiction, but the concept is pushed a little too hard. It isn't allowed to cook; instead it's forced onto viewers too early and never goes anywhere other than a few oddball scenes involving an iguana. Some viewers may be apt to grab on to the message no matter how loose it is, while others will want a little more structure.
Another problem is Terence's character. We never see Terence as anything other than a depraved jackass, so there's never a reason to pull for him or hope for redemption. He's less a sympathetic, believable character and more comic relief. The rest of the cast doesn't add much support either. I normally like Nicolas Cage, but here it's hard to remember he's actually a good (Academy Award winning) actor.
On the Blu-ray front, Bad Lieutenant is just okay. The 1080p transfer looks great, but this isn't a movie you watch for the visuals. The cinematography and New Orleans backdrops make for a few attention-grabbing shots, but nothing makes a Blu-ray purchase necessary. The rest of the package includes two trailers, a photo album and short "Making of..." feature. The "Making of..." offers some insight into the film, but felt a little too run-of-the-mill for me.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is going to leave audiences split. Fans of over-the-top, seemingly random antics will love everything about the film. To put it another way, if you thought The Boondock Saints was a high-mark for cinema, you will more than likely enjoy Bad Lieutenant. On the other hand, if that's not your thing, it will come off as a half-baked idea that attempts to fake its way to a greater depth and meaning.
