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Movie:		9.0
Picture:		7.0
Sound:		7.0
Extras:		4.0
Score:		8.0

Director(s):	Abel Ferrara
Writer(s):	Victor Argo, Abel Ferrara
Starring:	Harvey Keitel
Genre:	Crime Thriller
Release Date:	July 28, 2009
Rated:

List Price:	DVD - $19.98
Amazon:

Early on in Bad Lieutenant, I was rather enjoying the film, and began pondering Roger Ebert’s quote on the package, “Harvey Keitel has given us one of the great performances in recent years.” And to an extent I agreed, but was thinking about how much of my appreciation of the film was actually due to Keitel’s performance. Certainly he was showing chops, but I’ve seen him show chops before. The material and the direction were impressive enough to think that it could work without Keitel. But by the time the third act was in full gear I just couldn’t focus on anything but the physical force Keitel emits. He’s thankfully in almost every scene in the movie, never letting you forget what a skuzz he is. To analyze his performance is to overlook its brilliance. So let’s move on.

Ferrara doesn’t cut. He just never, ever, ever cuts. And I love him for it. It’s a detached, clinical film without being the least bit stoic or lifeless. The idea that Ferrara could get a film as powerful as this with little to no intercutting for the duration just speaks worlds of his talent. And the fact that he could simultaneously get the exact technical appeal he was aiming for and give a great actor the role of his career in the process is commendable in the highest regard. There’s an increasingly popular notion that a director can’t be a visual director and a director of actors. I’ve heard it spoken out loud more than once. It bewilders me that anyone could think that, but the next time someone says it to my face, I’ll know where to direct them.

Aside from Keitel’s one-man-showmanship and Ferrara’s eye, the script, in a manner of speaking, transcends itself. The 65-page shooting script easily translates to a 96-minute film because the film isn’t about the time spent talking. In a very true, perhaps pretentious film theorist sense, it’s about the time no one’s saying anything. Even without seeing the two-minute static shot of the Lieutenant shooting up, then slowly, slowly drifting down, the script would suggest the pure despair inherent in the situation. It’s the rare film where what is scripted and what is shown in the finished film are equally important, and equally well executed. I know it’s been 17 years but, bravo.

Lionsgate’s new Special Edition of the film looks and sounds about as good as the film is going to in the foreseeable future. While Blu-ray masters actually make films shot on lower quality stock look rather beautiful, contrary to what many think, if Lionsgate went to the trouble of doing another special edition of the film on DVD with no announcement for a Blu-ray on the way, I wouldn’t expect one anytime soon. The format’s three years old already.

DVD Bonus Features

On the special features side of things there’s a commentary by Abel Ferrara and a three-part documentary on the making of the film. It’s pretty standard stuff, but it’s presented in a way that does justice to the film’s French New Wave sensibilities. Aside from that, the original mono mix has been given a coat of elbow grease and bumped up to 5.1. There isn’t a trailer to be found on the disc, which quite frankly is downright bizarre considering the movie is preceded by a trailer for another Lionsgate Abel Ferrara special edition, King of New York. In the spot, they plug the TV spots and Original Theatrical Trailer like they’re worthy of being given individual mention on the ad, and not, you know, a given for when you buy a DVD of a movie made in the second half of the 20th century. Sometimes Lionsgate is on their game, and sometimes they just trip over their own feet. The thing that really bothered me was the trailer for Reservoir Dogs on the disc that gives away the ending. Smooth. Very smooth. Like butter.