Stanisland Magazine

Harvey Keitel’s intense performance is undone by poor script and bad direction.

VERDICT:

“Bad Lieutenant,” is a film that can be described as a meh outing from Harvey Keitel. While it offers a unique and unsettling portrayal of a character who is living on the edge of a mental catastrophe, it suffers from glaring issues that make it a poor watch.

Terrible pacing

The most notable problem with the film is its pacing, which is undeniably, one of the stand-out features of the movie that makes it hard to continue. Scenes often linger for too long, leaving the audience waiting for the story to progress. Furthermore, there is little to keep you engrossed, as the narrative feels disjointed and lacks clear direction. It’s a meandering journey testing your patience, before it plunges into a finale that yearns for an audience’s gasp, yet, will more likely make you squint and think expletives.

Harvey Keitel: misdirected or terrible performance?

Harvey Keitel‘s performance, while intense, veers into the territory of being over the top and far from realistic. His character is undoubtedly out of place, embodying compulsive behaviours driven by his descent into madness. This aspect of the film captures the idea of someone losing control, but it might be a bit too extreme for some viewers, buoyed by a disjointed director in Abel Ferrara, who fails to enhance the atmosphere of his film and makes it seem more akin to the 70s than a product of its time.

Final thoughts

“Bad Lieutenant” is a film that is worth watching, if only to say you’ve seen it and to form your own opinion about its unconventional storytelling and Keitel’s lacklustre performance. However, it falls short of being rewatchable due to its pacing and the overwhelming intensity of the central character’s unravelling. In the end, it’s a polarising cinematic experience that leaves an impression, but may not be one to everyone’s taste.