On B List of Movie Reviews

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Bad Lieutenant (1992)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 7/03, 8/06

8/06: Although I commend Harvey Keitel for his uninhibitedness, there's nothing special about Bad Lieutenant.

The movie fails because the plot is neither interesting nor meaningful. It just goes nowhere. There are redundant scenes about a dirty cop's lifestyle that goes spirally downhill via drugs, sex, and baseball. Yet do I care? No. Hence, it's what killed Bad Lieutenant.

Harvey Keitel makes a travesty out of himself because his character isn't real, soulful, or worth saving. Rather, I see an actor who's pretending. Look at the movie poster. What the fuck is he doing?

I blame director Abel Ferrara, who's also responsible for the backfire in King of New York. His incompetence is at full display in both pictures. To be a serious filmmaker, he must learn how to develop his characters who are worth caring about. If Abel Ferrara can't do that, then it's a waste of time.

All in all, Bad Lieutenant is a mess.

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