While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.
When Abel Ferrara calls something bad, better believe it: he means business.
– Janet Maslin,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
There's an undeniable formal elegance in the way Ferrara, who coauthored the script with Zoe Lund, frames and holds certain shots, and Keitel certainly gives his all.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
9 Apr 2008
fresh:
Abel Ferrara's uncompromising Bad Lieutenant is a harrowing journey with a corrupt N.Y. cop sinking into the lower depths.
– Lawrence Cohn,
Variety,
9 Apr 2008
fresh:
Bad Lieutenant is finally a pulp parable of sin, addiction, and redemption, a movie that, like its subversive hero, revels in the pleasure -- and danger -- of going too far.
– Owen Gleiberman,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Apr 2008
rotten:
Members of the gutter-al elite will be the sole survivors.