.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

I should clear the air right off the top. I am not a Nic Cage fan. I would rather watch a three hour film of Christopher Walken taking a shit than have to watch most Nicolas Cage's features.

Don't get me wrong. He does have some incredible work on his resume. His Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas was well deserved. And I think he got overlooked in the superior, Matchstick Men. But count for a handful of titles in a career that has spanned 25 years, I think Nicholas Cage is over hyped.

He's good for 3-5 films a year, which is also part of the problem - overexposure. And with his recent financial woes being reported by just about every media outlet, you can be sure that that Cage saturation at the multi-plex is not going away anytime soon.

Hearing Cage had been cast in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, did nothing for me. I didn't think the original Bad Lieutenant (1992) which starred Harvey Keitel was all 'that', and although director Werner Herzog claimed that Port of Call New Orleans was not a sequel or remake, I didn't appreciate any coincidence with the 1992 film.

Port of Call opens appropriately enough with a snake swimming through the murky waters of the flood that consumed New Orleans in 2005 as a result of Hurricane Katrina. We are quickly introduced to Terrence McDonagh (Cage) and Stevie Pruit (Val Kilmer) two cops who upon a visit to the flooded station see a convict still locked in his jail cell as the waters rise above his shoulders. Out of character, Terrence jumps in the water and saves the man which gets him promoted to Lieutenant, but at a price - the jump leaves Terrence with severe back pain and starts his dependency on the pain killer Vicadin.

Meantime, a gang murder has occurred leaving a family of five shot dead in their home. Terrence is on the case and begins tracking down leads while losing himself amidst all the drugs (he has since advanced to cocaine and heroin) and corruption that came with feeding his habit.

Complicating the investigation and Terrence's personal life are subplots that are well ingrained into the feature. Eva Mendes plays the drug addicted prostitute friend who inadvertently pulls Terrence into a situation with money demanding gangsters. And Brad Dourif plays a bookie that takes Terrence's bets which are way above his pay grade. Each of these characters will be instrumental to Terrence's transformation before the end of the film, but more importantly, they are purposely placed in the film to progress and develop the personality and temperament of the central character.

By the time Port of Call gets to the final chapters, where Terrence is in so deep with each and every shady character to which he interacts, you almost feel sorry for the guy.

Director Werner Herzog who directed documentaries Grizzly Man (2005) and Encounters at the End of the World (2007) eases into the production of a police drama and gets the best performance out of Cage, and for what it is worth, Kilmer, of recent years. The final notes of the film that show Terrence and his family having weathered the storms of addiction and corruption were unexpected. So too, was the quick addition of a scene showing a relapse of judgement and how your past can come back to haunt you, but it can also come back to assist in your recovery.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. But I left the theatre with an experience of a cop drama that was better than most. And (and this really hurts to say), all the buzz about Nicholas Cage possibly getting an Academy Award nomination are indeed founded. I still don't think anyone beats Colin Firth's performance in A Simple Man for the golden statue, but it is good to see what Nicolas Cage can do when he is not trying be Nicholas Cage on screen.