BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL - NEW ORLEANS (2009) (***1/2)

Like me, director Werner Herzog has never seen the original BAD LIEUTENANT, starring Harvey Keitel and directed by Abel Ferrara. So he took this project on as an original. That's of course how I had to go into watching it. It seems like the perfect project for Herzog, following a larger than life character with an obsession.

This character is Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage, LEAVING LAS VEGAS), a police detective in New Orleans. Before the waters have receded he and his partner Stevie Pruit (Val Kilmer, TOMBSTONE) stumble upon a prisoner still locked away in a cell as the water rises. The detectives contemplate leaving him to die (Terence doesn't want to ruin his expensive underwear), but he decides to jump in anyway. In the process he injuries his back severely and will suffer pain the rest of his life.

This accident begins McDonagh's spiral into drug addiction, starting out with Vicodin and ending up with him bragging about his lucky crack pipe. While McDonagh was never a saint, his addiction makes him desperate and a desperate man can easily do things that he would never do otherwise. No matter what his other obligations are, getting his next fix trumps them all. McDonagh starts stealing drugs from the evidence room then he's shaking down young clubbers for their stash and forcing the young woman to have sex with him while her boyfriend watches.

His latest investigation involves the slaughter of a Senegalese immigrant family. The trail leads to New Orleans' biggest drug dealer Big Fate (Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner, THE X FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE), which is a dangerous temptation to a raging addict. At one point McDonagh hooks up with patrol officer Heidi (Fairuza Balk, THE CRAFT) just to get a traffic ticket thrown out for his bookie Ned Schoenholtz (Brad Dourif, BLUE VELVET), who he owes thousands to. If he's willing to do that, what else will he do when he's really strung out? Just ask Binnie Rogers (Irma P. Hall, THE LADYKILLERS) and Mrs. Antoinette Fahringer (Lauren Swinney) when they try to cover up the whereabouts of a witness.

While his professional life is in chaos, so is his personal life. He's dating a high-class prostitute named Frankie Donnenfeld (Eva Mendes, GHOST RIDER). It's clear he cares about her, but she's also a great source for drugs. Unfortunately for Frankie having a drugged out arrogant cop as your boyfriend, doesn't make things pleasant with clients who aren't the nicest people in the world. McDonagh's father Pat (Tom Bower, CRAZY HEART) has been in and out of AA for years and is back on the wagon again. However, it's tough for him to focus on getting sober when his girlfriend Genevieve (Jennifer Coolidge, AMERICAN PIE) drinks beer all day.

The script from William Finkelstein, a veteran of cop and lawyer TV shows such as NYPD BLUE and LAW & ORDER, weaves the drug addition, murder investigation and family issues together into a loose story that comes together in a conclusion of dark comic irony and then ends on a note of sad irony. When McDonagh tries to fix one problem he invariably creates two more. This makes for a very tense viewing experience, because you're never sure whom he's going to take down in the process.

Cage won an Academy Award for playing an addict on LEAVING LAS VEGAS. He still has his larger than life presence, but its dial down a bit from then. After the injury, Cage gives McDonagh a hunch that carries through the rest of the film. It's a nice physical reminder of McDonagh's pain, which allows the audience to have sympathy for him, while they despise his actions.

Herzog watches the character's decline like a documentarian. Because for the most part the film isn't overly stylized, some have taken issue with the few moments Herzog indulges. There is a running visual motif of reptiles throughout the film. Alligators and especially iguanas take the foreground of some shots. In post-Katrina New Orleans, these reptiles have emerged from the swamp to make a bigger presence in the city. So has corruption.

Roger Ebert not only named the film one of the best of 2009, but the decade. I wouldn't go that far, but I will say it's a fascinating crime thriller that is never a slave to conventions. And yet, the ending pokes fun at police procedural endings. Is justice served when your story has no good guys?