Bad Lieutenant (1992)

Proving that he may be the most fearless actor of his or any other generation, Harvey Keitel gives an amazing, no-holds-barred performance in director Abel Ferrara's uncompromising 1992 film about a New York cop on the edge of self-annihilation. The film's title is meant to be taken literally: Keitel's character has no redeeming values whatsoever, save for his desperate need for redemption. Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide is correct in calling this an "over-the-top Catholic guilt movie," but it's been made with such conviction that Ferrara and Keitel transcend the sheer unpleasantness of the material to give it a kind of tragic divinity. Here's a character so vile and corrupted that he consumes or re-sells the drugs he confiscates, but when he's assigned to investigate the brutal rape of a nun who refuses to press charges, he feels that this is his opportunity to redeem his rotten soul. Deservedly rated NC-17 due to its rough content and a frontal nude scene that even Keitel's most loyal fans could do without, this film tends to divide viewers into love-it-or-hate-it categories, but few could deny its raw power and the deeply anguished humanity that Keitel brings to his role. Whatever your reaction may be, few would deny this is an unforgettable film. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Does your father know you have his car?

'Dazzlingly raw, gritty, dirty, blatantly real' are the best ways to describe this spectacular flick about a bad cop whose life is spinning out of control. Harvey Keitel gives an incredible, mind-blistering performance in the title role. This cop is losing himself in a gambling problem and a drug problem. These 2 problems are brutally and graphically shown on film as they drag this officer into the depths of depravity and degradation. He steals and abuses his power as a policeman to support his self-destructive habits. And what he does with those teenage girls who steal their father's car is just oh so wrong! But it's one of my favorite scenes in the movie. As his life deteriorates, he must face a gruesome case involving the rape of a nun. (This crime is portrayed semi-graphically, and may be a bit much for some to handle) The cop's faith and self-destruction clash as he faces the solution to this, his hardest case. Vivid, graphic depictions of all aspects of a dirty cop's life are pictured as his life unravels on camera. This movie is not for everyone...but it is a stark, raw and brutal portait of a cop in the midst of the deepest inner-turmoil. Even though I am not a fan of cop movies, I think this is one of my all-time favorite flicks. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes brutal realism...and anyone who is not too squeamish. September 30, 2008

Good performance, bad movie

Harvey Keitel gives a terrific performance as a cop who's also a drug user and gambling addict. However, everything else in the movie is terrible. The movie is about a police lieutenant who is investigating the rape of a nun and goes through some kind of spiritual awakening at the end. However instead of showing him doing any actual police work, the movie focuses on scenes where the lead uses drugs and gets deeper in debt to a bookie. These scenes seem to be just thrown into the movie and Keitel is the only one you see in more than one of them. The idea that a cop could keep his job with this type of behavior and the ending are totally unbelievable. September 28, 2008

Theme could have been powerful

Indeed, the plot had potential for a theme of redemption, and one moving in this direction because of an example of forgiveness. One who looks for this will be greatly disappointed. The dialogue and acting are dreadful, the plot filled with such extreme and unreal stereotypes that those who watch films on religious themes, and who think that Richard Burton in Exorcist II was the worst of the lot, may wish to consider turning over that trophy to this cast.

Keitel certainly captures the image of a man who is an absolute mess - one unforgettable scene, for example, is when his curses and rage precede his shooting a car radio through his ire over a huge gambling loss. One wonders if he belongs to a police department where even a semblance of sanity is a requirement.

The main character, I am sure, was intended to capture passion and conflict. The trouble is that his passion is expressed in nothing beyond constant strings of obscenities. The anguished facial expression which I imagine was intended is a gargoyle grimace, unvarying, which puts one in mind of a character with a perpetual stomach virus (though I suppose heavy drug usage, such as this 'bad cop' displays, can cause such an effect.

The nun who should provide the inspiration seems catatonic rather than ethereal - a vowed Stepford wife, or perhaps, with today's technology, a robot. Her words on forgiveness, obviously intended as a powerful contrast with the lieutenant's despair and hatred, are so 'canned' as to make one think one is digesting rations left over from the second world war. Her indifference towards seeing a rapist prosecuted could leave one puzzled as to whether vowed life leaves any room for protecting others from the horrid fate.

As the Amazon reviewer quoted, this is a "Catholic guilt" film - stereotypical, but without substance. The church scenes, probably filmed to give an impression of call and response in some vague fashion, give more of a sense of one sinking into paranoid schizophrenia.

This must rank with one of the absolute worst films of this or any decade. August 29, 2008

Harvey must have needed to pay the bills to take on this one

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. August 2, 2008

BAD LIEUTENANT IS A HIT AND MISS BUT MOSTLY IT'S AMAZING!

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. June 14, 2008

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