Werner Herzog, Nicolas Cage and a Reptile Walk Into a New Orleans Bar: Bad Lieutenant Goes Gonzo

"The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" (2009) - Director Werner Herzog's gonzo masterpiece on crime and corruption in post-Katrina New Orleans features a stellar performance by Nicolas Cage as an opiate addicted police detective. Herzog captures the beauty of decay quality of the Big Easy and populates the cast with an impressive list of actors in supporting roles (Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Michael Shannon, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Coolidge, Fairuza Balk, Lucius Baston, Shawn Hatosy, and Xzibit). Perhaps the most (pleasantly) surprising thing in the film is the use of "reptile cam" in some scenes. The extreme blurry closeups of alligators and iguanas adds a hallucinatory fever dream like quality to the already drug addled atmosphere. Four stars.