A long time ago, when local theaters showed movies for a couple dollars in the middle of the week, I saw Vampire's Kiss, wherein Nicolas Cage portrayed an extremely disturbed young executive in a most entertaining manner. He was wild and hilarious. He insanely recited the alphabet at one point, and sides were splitting.
He's had a major career since then, unexpectedly even becoming an action star. But even when cashing a big paycheck in National Treasure, he has retained a sort of wild and edgy unpredictability.
This odd movie belongs to Nic Cage, who is in virtually every scene and who pulls out all the stops. He is a New Orleans cop who loves drugs and sex, mostly drugs. He freely abuses his authority whenever possible. He is working a murder case in between his binges.
The plot barely matters. If you like Nic Cage is his full uninhibited wild glory, you will not miss this. He takes on an odd stilted way of talking. He acts so crazy around murderous drug kingpins that they seem like staid authority figures. He randomly asks about iguanas in the room, but other people don't see any iguanas in the room.
In a year when Morgan Freeman is about to portray Nelson Mandela, I don't suppose there's any hope in hell that Nicolas Cage will get nominated for an Oscar for being an over-the-top amoral lowlife.
But for me, this is easily the most entertaining performance of the year. This is one I will get on video and keep, as I did Vampire's Kiss.
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Topic - Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans - tunenut 11:44:15 11/29/09 (5)
- Herzog directs.....always..... - afilado 14:02:15 11/29/09 (1)
- Even his pratfalls are interesting. Agreed! nt - tinear 21:08:45 11/29/09 (0)
- so is it related to the original Bad Lieutenant? nt - dave c 13:06:01 11/29/09 (2)
- very peripherally... - tunenut 13:44:55 11/29/09 (1)
- thanks nt - dave c 22:57:25 12/01/09 (0)