The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)

In the huge flood of remakes (and sequels) of which most are totally unnecessary and dismissable there are a few among them that really work and are nearly as good as their original pendant or maybe even better.

Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call: New Orleans takes the premise of the controversial 1992 Classic but shifts its tone and mood resulting in a fresh, satirical and darkly funny new version.

While the original film (that I advise you to seek out!) was a sad, serious drama with a great lack of "amusement" to watch this film also is about a drug addicted, gambling, abusive cop but it brings a lot of satirical, bad taste- humor to the table that is indeed very enjoyable.
Still prefering the 1992 edition starring Harvey Keitel in one of the most stunning and intense performances I've ever seen on screen I have to point out that Nicolas Cage's performance is also top notch. Finally Cage shows some of his great acting talent again after he had played and still accepts so many roles that are just horrible.
He is perfect in the role of the cynical, broken police detective. He brings fun to the role without
letting its dramatic, repulsive side fall apart and even though it is over the top we buy it.

Cage and of course director Werner Herzog create an odd, distict atmosphere here that dominates the film. There is a bit more story here than in the original but it's still kinda loosely structured and character driven, so the story itself is not that important. Yet it provides some very inventive ideas and twists and it is a lot of fun.

The movie is set right after the events of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
As it opens we see Cage just being promoted to lieutenant.

You can soon realize that he is not only doing a good job and his methods are not very much examplary. He is abusing his powers and assaults innocent people, he steals confiscated drug.

The latest case is involving five dead people. The police sees a connection to a big druglord whose guilt could have never been proven before. But this time there seems to be a witness.
During his investigations Cage struggles with his own problems, drug addiction, hallucinations, financial issues, his family and on top of that gets in trouble with mobsters who offended his girlfriend, a prostitute played by Eva Mendes.

His lack of self control and his methods soon add problems even within the police squad.

He starts to screw things up and things start to screw him up and eventually he has to find a way out of this.

Other than in the original there are moments of positive emotion here, moments when we see or want to see the good side in this man and see a chance for a change. But we are left with uncertainty about whether he can ever maintain or embrace these emotions and defeat his misery.

A weird, funny trip, literally. And there to be seen.