Bad Lieutenant

I believe this is [the] bottom of the barrel performance of Keitel's life. The story was stilted, disjointed and incoherent. Maybe it was meant to be that way, but it was a dumb movie, altogether. I won't waste my time detailing the premise of the story, but there are parts that will make you laugh out loud - the car scene with the two young girls that Keitel "gets his rocks off" (literally), that's absolutely hilarious. I really don't feel that this movie was meant to be serious, because it was too far out there. It's possible that the drug-induced scenes were real, because Harvey Keitel had to have been on drugs to perform the way he did in this film. The Director must've been on drugs when he made this movie....honestly.

I am reviewing this because I am a guy that likes Bad Cop/Good Cop movies. With this movie, "The Bad Lieutenant" it's from the same director that did, "King of New York" Which was one of my favorite movies of all time.

Bad Lieutenant has a lot of things going for it. It was a very well pace movie, but also savage and sometimes strange. Yes there are some parts in this movie that is kind of a hit and miss, but most its a very good movie that I am glad was made.

If you like these type of movies, the Bad Lieutenant is a good choice for any die hard fan of these movies.

P.S. There is a remake coming in 2009 with Nicolas Cage. Which the director has already said it was not going to be a remake. We'll just have to see and wait.

Whisper his name. Harvey Keitel. Shout his name. Harvey Keitel. No matter. He did not win any awards for this role, this damnation, this damned man, a police detective in "Bad Lieutenant."

There's a song, "Bad to the Bone," which might sum up the detective, or it might not be strong enough because Harvey Keitel's character is bad to the bone and then some. He lives as a family man, but on the edge, clearly not part of this family, a stuffed man, stuffed with aloneness, stuffed with horrors of his own making. Director Abel Ferrara's filming technique extends this isolation by making the movie look like a docudrama. Filmed on location. No takes. Shoot as is. Keep the cameras rolling.

He starts the day clean as he drops his two sons off at school. During the course of the day he investigates two vicious murders, a store theft he turns to his advantage by keeping the stolen money, does drugs with a stoned out, emaciated redhead, and engages in a menage-a-trois with two women. During this scene he evens out the equal rights debate for male actors to engage in full frontal nudity. Yes, he does. Then he gets his life-defining case--the vicious rape of a young nun by two local petty drug dealers.

Harvey Keitel has spent the day engaged in personal encounters with, well, let's name it, sins of the flesh, of the soul. He sees the nun several times over the next few days, trying to understand what happened to her. When she tells him with her own mouth that she forgives the two men and will not identify them or name them, but only forgives them, he has a major crisis of conscience.

One reviewer calls this film a major religious movie, and, indeed, it becomes so. These are scenes to cherish for their truthful beauty, for their naked exposure of a soul in dire peril. Harvey Keitel produces a keening for his soul the like which will make your hair stand on end. The following scenes need to be seen and not read.

What transpires resonants with the viewer as the viewer comes to understand the moment's eternal meaning. No more will I say.

Note: This movie is rated NC-17 and is not for the squeamish.

This film is not for children. Buy a DVD for them, and when they grow up, give it to them. It's a classic. I saw it over and over when it was first released, and I never cease to be astonished by its bravery and its raw, often horrifying beauty. Ferrara and Keitel are both geniuses. The film is brilliantly paced and controlled and every detail has rich meaning. It's a tale of damnation, deep suffering and redemption. All of Keitel's performances are terrific, but this is one of the very greatest, even rivalling his performance in The Piano. --- Again, this is not for children. But it is for the adult mind that craves originality, fearless artistic vision and absolutely dazzling film making. Never forget, even during the most shocking scenes that this is a film with a conscience and immense depth. It's transformative and unforgettable. During my long years away from the Church, this was a film that drew me closer to my Catholic faith, and certainly closer to my final admission that I believed in God. The film believes in God, and it will astonish you as it reveals this to you. --- I can't praise it enough. I feel inadequate in the face of its complexity. And the Bad Lieutenant is no one dimensional character, not by any means. ---- It's worth noting that the HBO series Deadwood had a similar raw and muscular beauty and a similar profound morality.

Yes, a truly memorable performance by Keitel, but apart from that, this film offers nothing. The story is very weak and other performances are forgettable. That's 96 wasted minutes of my life.