Ferrara was in the right place at the right time to make Bad Lieutenant.
Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:36
Fresh:27
Rotten:9
Average Rating:6.8/10
Synopsis: Harvey Keitel stars as a nameless New York cop, hopelessy addicted to drugs, gambling, and sex, in this intense, hallucinatory portrait of sin and redemption by Abel Ferrara. The film follows the... Harvey Keitel stars as a nameless New York cop, hopelessy addicted to drugs, gambling, and sex, in this intense, hallucinatory portrait of sin and redemption by Abel Ferrara. The film follows the lieutenant as he makes his way to various crime scenes, concerned only with taking bets from his fellow cops on the outcome of the ongoing National League playoffs. As his bad decisions drive him deeper into debt, his life becomes a surreal hell, with a constant intake of crack, coke, heroin, and booze eroding what remains of his sanity. An investigation into the rape of a nun (Frankie Thorn) leads to his spiritual breakdown at the church crime scene, where he sees Jesus and the road to his salvation. This gutsy, highly original tale is one of Ferrara's most perfectly realized films and a pinnacle in the career of Keitel, whose performance transcends the screen in its sheer bravery. [More]
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Frankie Acciario, Brian McElroy, Peggy Formley
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Frankie Acciario, Brian McElroy, Peggy Formley, Stella Keitel, Leonard Thomas, Victor Argo, Frankie Thorn, Zoë Tamerlis
Director: Abel Ferrara
Director: Abel Ferrara
Reviews for Bad Lieutenant
Keitel's performance is perhaps the needed counterpoint to Christopher Walken's ice-cold overlord in Ferrara's visionary crime opus King of New York
Keitel is onscreen for pretty much the entire movie and clearly relishes the opportunity of playing someone not so much teetering on the abyss as leaping off with a grand piano manacled to each ankle.
Quite possibly Ferrara's finest hour, with an almost unbearably sincere performance from Keitel.
Bad Lieutenant is finally a pulp parable of sin, addiction, and redemption, a movie that, like its subversive hero, revels in the pleasure -- and danger -- of going too far.
Abel Ferrara's uncompromising Bad Lieutenant is a harrowing journey with a corrupt N.Y. cop sinking into the lower depths.
Though hardly a film for all sensibilities, Bad Lieutenant has the courage of its own convictions, and follows them to the bitter end.
There's an undeniable formal elegance in the way Ferrara, who coauthored the script with Zoe Lund, frames and holds certain shots, and Keitel certainly gives his all.
Ferrara allows his star to dictate the pace, and is rewarded with a performance of extraordinary, terrifying honesty.
Scabrously powerful, the film dives into the addictive psyche, mixing Ferrara's fave elements: sex, drugs, and mayhem. Yet like his other films, it's a morality play about reclaimed sinners desperate for salvation in a world devoid of love and decency.
When Abel Ferrara calls something bad, better believe it: he means business.
Latest News for Bad Lieutenant
May 27, 2009:
Cage Unleashes Crazy In Bad Lieutenant Trailer
Okay, for everyone lamenting Nicolas Cage's decade-long slide into talent-wasting, hairpiece-abusing blockbuster mediocrity -- this one's for you. Below is the production... More...
October 03, 2008:
Further Reading: Marion Cotillard and Forest Whittaker in Abel Ferrara's Mary
As the NFT in London prepares a Juliette Binoche season, Kim looks at Abel Ferrara's Mary which also stars Marion Cotillard and Forest Whittaker. More...
July 08, 2008:
Herzog's Bad Lieutenant Grows ![]()
Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Vondie Curtis Hall, Shawn Hatosy, Denzel Whitaker and Xzibit have joined Nicolas Cage in the cast of Werner Herzog's "update" of Bad... More...
June 16, 2008:
Eva Mendes in Negotiations for Bad Lieutenant ![]()
Eva Mendes is in talks to star opposite Nicolas Cage in Werner Herzog's remake/not-a-remake of Bad Lieutenant. More...
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