(More than a) Quick Look: The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

Sometimes it seems we do have to ignore what our instincts might be telling us.  I was quite wary of seeing an attempt at a remake/reboot/rethinking of Abel Ferrara's excellent 1992 indie film Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel.  But, I saw this listed on the indie film channel, so I decided to give it a once-over, and I am glad I did.
The movie is directed by Werner Herzog, and it stars Nick Cage, Eva Mendes and Xzibit.  The supporting cast is surprisingly strong as well, featuring Val Kilmer, Brad Dourif, and Jennifer Coolidge.  The movie opens in New Orleans right after hurricane Katrina.  A police sergeant named Terrence McDonagh (Cage) is clearing out his locker when he hears a prisoner in a holding cell who was not transferred out.  With the water rising and the man about to drown, Cage jumps into about 5 feet of water to rescue the man.  The scene cuts to McDonagh in his doctor's office being informed he has sustained a back injury during the rescue which will leave him pain the rest of his life.  McDonagh is then promoted to police Lieutenant in part due to his heroism of his rescue.
We quickly learn of McDonagh's "bad" persona.  He uses cocaine, heroin, and marijuana; his girlfriend is a prostitute named Frankie (Mendes); he gambles; and is more or less a criminal who happens to carry a badge.  The underlying plot is McDonagh investigating Big Fate (Xzibit) for a drug related homicide of 5 people.  McDonagh tries to juggle his various addictions along with this investigation, and his destructive behaviors all seem to collide with one another.  The end comes around full circle in a positive way.
What really made this movie good was Cage's role.  He carried himself around as if he did have a borderline severe back injury (walking stiff and with his shoulders shifted), and he really did come off as the torn cop - someone who wants to, and should be, doing the right things, but instead continually digs himself into a deeper and deeper hole.  It was very much embodying the behaviors of an addict, but with the calculations of an intelligent person.
Some of the scenes came off almost cartoonishly fictional, like McDonagh trying to gain Big Fate's trust so he could get money to pay off a gambling debt, and other scenes were almost a little "too far out there" for the context - like McDonagh seeing an iguana while he was high on drugs at several points.  But all in all the film worked well, and is worth checking out.