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31 out of 43 people found the following comment useful :-
BLT rocks! There is no other way to describe it., 18 September 2009
10/10
Author: saareman (alan.teder@sympatico.ca) from Toronto, Canada

Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival Sept 17, 2009.

First off it is important to note that the Bad Lieutenant name was imposed by producer Edward Pressman in the hopes of building a future franchise. As Herzog said, a better franchise would be based on his title Port of Call New Orleans. The combined title is a compromise which Werner Herzog was willing to agree to.

Herzog was fun as always at the introductory remarks and the Q&A with TIFF programmer Colin Geddes. Telling anecdotes such as Cage asking him on the 2nd day of shooting what is his motivation and Herzog telling him not to worry about that, just go with "Evil is bliss" and sometimes "let the pig out!" (from the Bavarian colloquialism "Die Sau rauslassen!").

I'll confess that I had my doubts about this one simply based on the BLT title alone, imagining that this was going to be some sort of embarrassing sequel that has been imposed on Herzog for some bizarre contractual obligation reason. Have no fear about that! This is a Herzog movie and a Nicolas Cage on-a-rampage movie with all that those both imply. Even if certain clichés of the genre are adhered to (the prostitute girlfriend, the father who is an ex-cop now "drinking himself to death", etc.) these end up having totally different plot resolutions than you'd expect. Cage's second scene confronting the matron lady and her hairdresser alone is worth the price of admission. I know they don't give Oscars for roles like this (actually, maybe for Denzel they did) but this is the best Nicholas Cage I've seen in years. Comment at the Q&A "I have seen 20 movies at this festival, and this is the most entertaining of all of them!" I couldn't agree more (and BLT was my 22nd). BLT rocks and Herzog rules! Seen at the Elgin Theatre/VISA Screening Room, the 2nd screening of 3 at TIFF 2009.

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10 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
The Nicolas Cage we loved is BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, 24 October 2009
8/10
Author: k-comm from United Kingdom

I just watched this at London Film Festival & went in expecting to hate it as I loved the original. But I have to say, the film is excellent, certainly Cage's best film & best performance since Leaving Las Vegas. Herzog has done a brilliant job & the film stands on it's own, apart from the Ferrara film. I won't spoil bits by mentioning them, but the film has several stand-out memorable scenes worth the price of admission alone. Herzog has always said that training for making films is 'life' not a stuffy film studies class etc. If you're familiar with his work or sensibilities, you'll get even more insight into how cool this guy is after watching this film. I look fwd to watching it again when it releases and getting the DVD!!

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15 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
a truly different film, vividly acted and directed, 14 September 2009
7/10
Author: antoniotierno (antoniotierno@hotmail.com) from Italy

This movie is filled with humor and turns, it's jazzy and entertaining but not that similar to Abel Ferrara's 1992 story, in spite of the title. It features a wonderful and very much involved performance from Nicholas Cage, a lot of very black humor and gets to develop a strong pessimism. The story is appropriately set in New Orleans (during the Hurricane Katrina's aftermath) and mainly shows what occurs to good people when bad people prosper. Nicholas Cage aside, Val Kilmer doesn't probably manages to do much, but Mendes and Dourif deliver convincing performances. Abel Ferrara's "Bad Lieutenant" was a dirty depiction of a strongly damaged detective (played by Harvey Keitel), where, leaving from the illusions of a drug-induced cop, ended up involving a lot of Catholic guilt. Here there's more action and humor than that stuff, not that the movie is shallow but probably it's just a bit more unpretentious.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Bad Liuetenant? More Like Worst Liuetenant:The Movie That Never Should Have Been Made, 14 November 2009
1/10
Author: iaintyapotna from United States

I couldn't even finish this movie, I had to walk out of it before I started punching myself in the eye just to finally see something interesting.

It's also interesting how Herzog says this isn't a remake, he pretty much swiped every idea from the original, made spoofs out of them, and reordered them in a sad, lazy attempt at making this movie look like it wasn't a mockery of the original - film students, if you want to flunk out, go and make a movie like this, and you'll be on your way to the bottom of the deans list in no time.

This film is a terribly written, poorly acted, worthless facsimile of the original, an affront to my intelligence personally, and an insult to both the audience and the history of the title "Bad Lieutenant". Herzog and Cage should both be banished from the film industry, with no less than 50 lashes each on their way to no man's land...if Mendes weren't hot, I'd say toss her out, too, but luckily for her, she's got another five years of bimbo roles in her before she's lucky to get cast for washed-up crack mother roles. I'm sorry to other readers if this seems harsh, but you should know before viewing that this movie was not made with respect for the audience in mind.

Everyone involved in this film needs to take a big step back combined with a deep breath, and re-evaluate their vision of what quality is, or just quit the biz altogether - either would be a huge favor to the general public. Cage, Kilmer, Mendes, Herzog (hell, everyone in the cast) - you should all be ashamed of yourselves.

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0 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
I had to leave the cinema, that's how bad it was, 12 November 2009
1/10
Author: ailaic from Romania

I can't describe in words how much I disliked this movie, which had a really bad story and an even worse shooting technique.

It's about a cop who rescued a criminal which was drowning in a police station's prison, and because of this he has injured his back. Since the beginning it was funny because I couldn't understand how he injured his back by jumping in pretty deep water (it was reaching the criminal's head). He was promoted for his "courages" act to lieutenant. Because of the back pain, he had to use drugs to calm it down, and that's how the movie continues to its end, him trying to find drugs through illicit methods. How bad is that!?

I wouldn't suggest going to see it unless you want to waste money and time.

It was the 1st movie where I left the cinema as I couldn't stand it anymore. Oh man, and the shooting techniques.. :( I can't believe I paid to watch this (well, half of it).

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28 out of 83 people found the following comment useful :-
Abel Ferrara's anger is justified, 6 September 2009
5/10
Author: CarbineM1 from United States

Just saw it here in Telluride- disappointed. The original Bad Lieutenant was an incredibly dark ride through one man's hell. This is more of a walk in a park, though takes place in New Orleans post-Katrina and it is not a nice park. Keitel's depth of anger and frustration aren't approached here by Mr. Cage. Eva Mendes provided eye candy but no twisted philosophical commentary like that offered by Zoë Lund. Val Kilmer's character was barely noticeable. Maybe it was the script or perhaps the direction, but this was a lot closer in spirit to the Naked Gun than the original. I know he wasn't trying to make the same film as Ferrara, but there has to be a lot more pain involved if you're going to include the words "Bad Lieutenant" in the title.

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