For me the main character of this movie was New Orleans itself! The great cinematography and the telling shots of a city that is already slowly but surely dying, decayed, abandoned, hopeless, rotten and stale all around, was as powerful as any other element of the movie.
Actually, the city could be a stand-in for any of the characters in the movie. It's mood, feel and look perfectly reflects those same attributes exhibited by the people inhabiting this sick and ailing universe. By the way I do hope that New Orleans survives this malady, this mal-du-siecle, emerges victorious from this disturbing slumber or coma it seems to have slipped into, and even thrives! Alas we can hope for that much...
Werner Herzog has a great eye for seemingly the most unimportant details, details which turn out to be the most important and end-up speaking volumes or as much as the presence of any actor on screen.
No other character is better reflected by this damaged and suffering city than Nicolas Cage, in one of his best performances in recent times. Not since "Lord Of War", have I found Cage to be as captivating and engaging than he was in this role, one that will almost inevitably bring up the memories of his stellar acting in "Leaving Las Vegas". This is a guy falling hard and fast, spiralling out of control, eventually bottoming out, but enjoying his trip along the way, all the way. He is caught in a hopeless vortex, largely of his own making, but also buoyed by external forces and pressures...there is no redemption for him, not where he has landed, but there are glimpses and fragments of humanity and even compassion that exude from him now and then, enough to keep him afloat without being completely claimed by the darkness. Yet even walking that fine line between being damaged and completely destroyed, he is incorrigible and there is no moment of revelation, no eureka, or change for him, there's just the next hit of crack, the next cocaine line, the next bottle, the next pill...
Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Xzibit, Jennifer Coolidge and the rest of the cast do a good job at rounding up the sorry individuals so aptly portrayed in the movie. The score is as weird and appropriate as needed to bring out anything from the movie.
A special mention should go to the cinematography of the movie, which is quite possibly and deservedly so the "hero" of the movie. This is the power of well realized shots, great camera work and excellent editing. The cinematography brings out the flavour and taste of the places it portrays and makes New Orleans a living, breathing entity, just like its human counterparts!
Unfortunately this movie has a very, and I mean very limited release, which is too bad, because it surely deserved a much wider audience. Yes, the title is not the most inspired choice, in that it automatically draws out a comparison with Harvey Keitel's "Bad Lieutenant", which in itself is not a necessarily bad thing, simply due to the fact that it might encourage people to seek out that movie and see it once more, people such as myself, who have not seen Keitel and Abel Ferrara's movie and cannot use it as a frame of reference for Cage and Herzog's film.
I am glad I took a chance on this movie. Personally, I was not disappointed, and in what has been a quite lackluster year for movies, this one was a nice surprise!
Actually, the city could be a stand-in for any of the characters in the movie. It's mood, feel and look perfectly reflects those same attributes exhibited by the people inhabiting this sick and ailing universe. By the way I do hope that New Orleans survives this malady, this mal-du-siecle, emerges victorious from this disturbing slumber or coma it seems to have slipped into, and even thrives! Alas we can hope for that much...
Werner Herzog has a great eye for seemingly the most unimportant details, details which turn out to be the most important and end-up speaking volumes or as much as the presence of any actor on screen.
No other character is better reflected by this damaged and suffering city than Nicolas Cage, in one of his best performances in recent times. Not since "Lord Of War", have I found Cage to be as captivating and engaging than he was in this role, one that will almost inevitably bring up the memories of his stellar acting in "Leaving Las Vegas". This is a guy falling hard and fast, spiralling out of control, eventually bottoming out, but enjoying his trip along the way, all the way. He is caught in a hopeless vortex, largely of his own making, but also buoyed by external forces and pressures...there is no redemption for him, not where he has landed, but there are glimpses and fragments of humanity and even compassion that exude from him now and then, enough to keep him afloat without being completely claimed by the darkness. Yet even walking that fine line between being damaged and completely destroyed, he is incorrigible and there is no moment of revelation, no eureka, or change for him, there's just the next hit of crack, the next cocaine line, the next bottle, the next pill...
Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Xzibit, Jennifer Coolidge and the rest of the cast do a good job at rounding up the sorry individuals so aptly portrayed in the movie. The score is as weird and appropriate as needed to bring out anything from the movie.
A special mention should go to the cinematography of the movie, which is quite possibly and deservedly so the "hero" of the movie. This is the power of well realized shots, great camera work and excellent editing. The cinematography brings out the flavour and taste of the places it portrays and makes New Orleans a living, breathing entity, just like its human counterparts!
Unfortunately this movie has a very, and I mean very limited release, which is too bad, because it surely deserved a much wider audience. Yes, the title is not the most inspired choice, in that it automatically draws out a comparison with Harvey Keitel's "Bad Lieutenant", which in itself is not a necessarily bad thing, simply due to the fact that it might encourage people to seek out that movie and see it once more, people such as myself, who have not seen Keitel and Abel Ferrara's movie and cannot use it as a frame of reference for Cage and Herzog's film.
I am glad I took a chance on this movie. Personally, I was not disappointed, and in what has been a quite lackluster year for movies, this one was a nice surprise!