BAD LIEUTENANT

Crime drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Nicolas Cage: New Orleans police detective Terence “Terry” McDonagh
Val Kilmer: his partner Stevie Pruit
Eva Mendes: Terry’s call-girl lover Frankie
Michael Shannon: Mundt, the police evidence room clerk
Brad Dourif: Terry’s sports bookie Ned
Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner: a drug kingpin known to the police by his Alias/Street Name/Nickname as Big Fate
Tom Bower: Terry’s father Pat
Jennifer Coolidge: Terry’s stepmother Genevieve

REVIEW
Bad cop, good cop? He’s both.

In fact Terence McDonagh is almost a one-man police force in this fast-paced who-dunnit. As usual there are plot twists and turns although things do not always turn out as expected. And sometimes it can become a bit confusing: case in point, somebody wants to extort money from Terry but I’ve no idea why. But that doesn’t matter: keeping focus on the main story line is all that is required.

This has to be Cage’s best performance ever: his character provides him the opportunity to carry off a wide range of emotions reminiscent of Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. That alone is worth the price of admission.

CLASSIFICATION
for violence, profanity, sexual situations, nudity and pervasive drug use.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• During an interrogation of a suspected drug dealer the papers on the desk are all nicely aligned. Although no one touches them, when Terry enters the room those on the right are now at an angle.
• Hearing a knock on the door Terry says “Who is it?” but does not get up from the chair yet the door is opened by someone pushing a cart and announcing “room service”. Only housekeeping and the security have master keys to hotel rooms; everyone else must wait to be invited in.
• Whenever Terry has an encounter with the nightclub patrons in the huge parking lot, every one of them is parked in the same space.

P.S.
In the United States more money is wagered on football than any other sport. In the world of sports betting, a dime equals $1,000. The point spread is a handicap placed on the expected winner of the game. For example if the Lakers are expected to beat the Clippers and the point spread is 6 points, anyone betting on the Lakers will win only if the Lakers beat the Clippers by 7 points or more.

P.S.S.
When Terry visits his girlfriend he benefits from the Movie-making Miracle of Available Parking Space which states that "whenever a character needs a parking space, even on the busiest streets in the busiest cities, one is readily available."

P.S.S.S.
As a matter of practice I truncate long movie titles because they run all over the place on my website making it look messy and untidy. Can’t have any of that!