There ain’t no iguana

Here’s Val Kilmer being upstaged by drug-addled police officer Nic Cage and a pair of reptiles in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans. Director Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, La Boheme) apparently shot the hilariously surreal scene himself, taking a bite from one of the lizards in the process.

The scene, and indeed the entire film, is brilliant. After schlepping about in so many poor films of late, Nic Cage plays the damaged police protagonist for all he’s got, while dark clouds over New Orleans suggest an ongoing trouble (with both the character and his surrounds).

William M Finkelstein’s script includes enough drug-induced absurdity to keep the murder investigation interesting, and by the second half I’d all but forgotten about the original crime – which is not uncommon in film noir, where the characters and city are often more interesting than the actual narrative.

With Eva Mendes as the drug-addicted femme fatale, the desolate streets of post-Katrina New Orleans, an ominous (if not slightly overbearing) score and more than just two reptiles, Herzog has made a thoroughly entertaining neo-noir.

As an aside, Abel Ferrara, who directed the original Bad Lieutenant starring Harvey Keitel back in 1991, told The Guardian that Herzog, Cage & co should ‘all die in hell’ for daring to re-make his classic film.

Ferrara also directed The Funeral with Vincent Gallo, for which reason I think he should die in hell. Not even Christopher Walken and Benicio del Toro could save that film. (But maybe don’t listen to me, the critics loved it).

Anyhow, I also think there should be more iguanas on film. Especially to the tune of Nawlins native Johnny Adams.