THE ONLY CRIMINAL HE CAN’T CATCH IS HIMSELF.

Six months after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans cop Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage), who’s hooked on painkillers (among other drugs), starts looking into who killed several illegal immigrants from Senegal. This film, which has nothing to do with the 1992 Bad Lieutenant, really could have gone either way. Setting the story in post-Katrina New Orleans adds an additional level of craziness as we follow Cage’s increasingly erratic journey. It’s his most challenging role in years, a performance that will make Werner Herzog fans remember Klaus Kinski. Funny and messy, the story has gators, gangsters and hallucinations.

2009-U.S. 122 min. Color. Directed by Werner Herzog. Screenplay: William M. Finkelstein. Cast: Nicolas Cage (Terence McDonagh), Eva Mendes (Frankie Donnenfield), Val Kilmer (Stevie Pruit), Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner, Fairuza Balk, Shawn Hatosy… Jennifer Coolidge, Brad Dourif, Michael Shannon.

IMDb