Caught this before the holidays out at the Kanata AMC, after its run at the Bytowne finished.

I love Werner Herzog, the guy is a complete lunatic. Really. Encounters at the End of the World; Grizzly Man; Rescue Dawn - they're all studies of the crazy people among us. This movie, in a sense, is no different. While on the surface, the movie is a police procedural, it is really a character study of a guy who come unstuck, and simply, bad.

Cage is very good, and nicely whacky. Herzog's direction is largely straightforward, except for those iguana and alligator extreme close ups. But while it is sort of a procedural, it is dryer and more sparse than most police dramas.

I think I would have to see it again to appreciate it fully. Unfortunately, it left me feeling a bit distant from the film. Of course the distraction of the bored idiots talking several rows back didn't help...

Agree with Jeffy - I am not a Nic Cage fan by any means, but he does a great job here just being drug-induced crazy. This wasn't so much a BAD Lieutenant as it was a guy whose increasing drug habits get him into making REALLY BAD decisions and digging his own grave deeper with each choice. This is not a typical Herzog film either and what caught me off guard was...


...KINDA SPOILERS.....



...the last 30 minutes when everything goes Cage's way and wraps up rather tidily. You are almost certain that the film will lead to inevitable self-destruction like Keitel's Bad Lieutenant or Pacino's Scarface, but in virtually 2 scenes, all crucial plot points get wrapped up so nicely - almost TOO nicely - that I was waiting for the trick ending or for Cage to wake up like it was all a dream. It was almost like Herzog said, "Okay, they want a Hollywood film, I'll GIVE 'em a Hollywood film, but almost picture-perfect to the last thing the audience would suspect".
This is not a bad thing mind you, the film still works as a demented character study, just in unexpected ways.
I could see how despite the film's mostly dark tone, it would be
an actor's actor's choice role to sink your teeth into and have some fun with.

Agree with both above. My only other semi-complaint is that I felt it went on a little too long and dragged at a couple of scenes.