Bad Lieutenant can be hard to watch. It's dark, realistic, and depressing. The main character, a corrupt cop junkie, seems to have no redeeming qualities. But this movie has balls. Metaphorically it has balls because of its blunt portrayal of its subject. Literally it has balls because I saw Harvey Keitel naked.
There isn't any one particular scene that stands out as the sole incriminating piece of evidence to earn the movie its NC-17 rating, but rather the collection of scenes as a whole. It is the entirety of its scenes strewn together, inside of which there is no room for levity or even, perhaps, relaxed breathing. The word "unrelenting" comes to mind. It is a character study of a human train wreck that begins after the initial derailment. We don't get to see what made this cop how he is or how he has maintained a family being the way he is. He just is. And we are allowed to view the drawn out details all the way down to the needle holes.
Since it plays almost documentary-like, we are exposed to scene after scene of drug use and depravity. And because of this narrative structure, the character development actually feels more natural than it otherwise might. We see Keitel's character hit rock bottom and have a crisis of faith of sorts but it doesn't feel cliched. But on the other hand, it doesn't feel satisfying.
It's a difficult movie to watch but if you are interested in intense or unique acting performances then this is definitely worth checking out. I can't imagine that Bad Lieutenant could have been a walk in the park for Harvey Keitel (or any other actor) and he really does a great job in it. He plays a real piece of shit. And I mean that as a compliment.
Today's arbitrary rating declares Bad Lieutenant a five star performance of a zero star lifestyle.
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