150 Word Review: 'Bad Lieutenant' (1992)
Infernal affairs
Some fans of director Abel Ferrara might suggest his masterpiece is the gangster drama King of New York, starring Christopher Walken at the peak of his feline sexiness. But the movie that truly sums up his provocative vibe is 1992's Bad Lieutenant, about what happens when one man places too much faith in the New York Mets.
That man is played by Harvey Keitel, a corrupt cop who spends his nights drinking, snorting, and gambling. Trigger warning: Bad Lieutenant is not for sensitive souls. Slurs are thrown. Crack is smoked. There's a graphic rape scene.
Keitel is also in top form: intense, dangerous, vulnerable. In one scene, high on drugs, he sobs naked. In another, he preys on a pair of teenagers who took Daddy's car without permission. Ferrara's New York is all underbelly—grime and shadows. This is an intimate look at a monster rotting from the inside out.