The Disney+ Dark Crime Thriller Gives Nicolas Cage An All-Timer Performance

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans stars Nicolas Cage as Terence McDonagh, a corrupt and drug-addicted police detective who investigates the killing of five Senegalese immigrants in post-Katrina New Orleans.

The film also stars Eva Mendes, Tom Bower, Jennifer Coolidge, Alvin ‘Xzibit’ Joiner, Val Kilmer, and Brad Dourif. Werner Herzog directed the film, while William M. Finkelston handled the screenplay.

Cinephiles might notice that Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans shares a similar title to the 1992 film Bad Lieutenant, directed by Abel Ferrera.

The character of a corrupt cop, portrayed by Nicolas Cage in the 2009 film and Harvey Kietel in Ferrar’s film, is a commonality between the two, Herzog says the film isn’t a sequel or a remake.

Finkelstein also told Herzog that he didn’t write a remake when turning in the screenplay, though they did decide to change the title by adding the Port of Call New Orleans subtitle. 

Interestingly, Edward R. Pressman was a producer on both Nicolas Cage’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and the 1992 film.

Despite Herzog and Finkelstein insisting that the film didn’t have anything to do with the original, director Abel Ferrara was still disappointed that the film was made.

In fact, he was quite angry about it, with media outlets quoting him, saying, “As far as remakes go, … I wish these people die in Hell.”

Werner Herzog went on to say that he had never even seen Ferrara’s film and later said he didn’t even know who he was.

Finally, in 2018, at the Newcastle International Film Festival, Ferrara said that he and Herzog had met and made peace.

Now fans can enjoy both the Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans film with Nicolas Cage and the 1992 Bad Lieutenant knowing there’s no bad blood between the films’ creators.

This is good because Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is definitely worth watching for Nicolas Cage’s intense performance.

This was during a time when Cage was getting some negative feedback from critics for his recent films like Ghost Rider, but his performance in this film was almost unanimously praised. While the film didn’t do great at the box office, many people have since taken to the movie as one of Cage’s best efforts of the 2000s.

Of course, Nicolas Cage has been having a career Renaissance in recent years, appearing in six films in 2023 alone. He’s also been doing some of his best work in indies, like 2023’s Dream Scenario, last year’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and 2021’s Pig.

Needless to say, it’ll be exciting to see what Nicolas Cage does next, but until then, make sure to check out his performance in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans on Disney+ if you’re looking for something to watch this weekend.