New Nicholas Cage movie has critics dusting off their thesuaruses

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans




Critics seem to be pretty divided over how good (or shitty) this movie is, and even more divided over why. The reviews range from 20/100 to 100/100 on metacritic, but when it comes to explaining those numbers, they all just cranked the bullshit machine into overdrive. Look at these excerpts:

"Cage is not quite Aguirre or Fitzcarraldo in the Big Easy. But his performance hits all the right mythopoetic beats, rising above the thin script and late-night-cable aesthetic."
Kieth Uhlich, Time Out New York

[That's definitely what I go to the movies to see... an actor striving to hit all the mythopoetic beats.]

"The marvel of Cage's performance is that, somehow, it's all of a piece. That's the marvel of the movie, too. This is one fever dream you'll remember whole."
-Paul Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

[Hmm... it's one of the best movies of the year because it's like a fever dream you'll remember whole.]

"The sparkle is what's been missing in the star's (Cage) recent performances. What's not to love in a movie that transmutes Terence's moral squalor, and the squalid state of post-Katrina New Orleans, into darkly comic gold?"
-Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

[Ooohhh... it's the sparkle - no wait! It's the movie's ability to umm... transmute Terence's moral squalor, and the squalid - what the fuck? Really. What the fuck.]

Now, here's the really good news: Without the collective guidance of these "entertainment experts," we, the movie-loving public, can form opinions of our own. These divisive little art projects only seem to come around once or twice a year, so enjoy it. Buy yourself a ticket (or just follow the link up top to the torrent) and join the conversation. Whatever you say, I guarantee it won't be as inane than this:

"Less like a movie than an interpretive-dance piece, with Cage as its lurching, depressed-satyr star."
-Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com