As the title suggests, Harvey Keitel is a bad New York police lieutenant. He gambles, he drinks, he does drugs, he's a bad father, he's a bad friend, he's irresponsible with firearms, he has bad personal hygiene practices and he hardly does any police work. He's just awful.
The film starts out showing how terrible he is at his job. He soon slides into being really awful. From there things take a downward turn.
"Bad Lieutenant" takes gritty and unflinching police drama to a new extreme. Corruption, addiction, depravity and the generally bad behavior go without saying. The man even drives badly. Harvey Keitel delivers a tour-de-force performance as the morally bankrupt police detective who is unnamed in the film. It is disturbing and at times hard to watch, but this may be the best performance of Keitel's career. His portrayal is masterclass acting showcasing desperation, self-loathing, and moments of fleeting humanity.
Abel Ferrara's signature style of realism and unflinching violence, is on full display in "Bad Lieutenant". The film's atmosphere is dark, oppressive and unsettling. You just have to wonder how some films ever get made...
"Vampires are lucky, they can feed on others. We gotta eat away at ourselves."
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