It is the story of a corrupt cop steeped in gambling debts. This guy seems to be using his power to sexually harass teenage girls, embezzlement of money, drug use and everything bad in his life. While investigating the rape of a young nun, this man tries to change course.
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.
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.
Keitel is onscreen for pretty much the entire movie and clearly relishes the opportunity of playing someone not so much teetering on the abyss as leaping off with a grand piano manacled to each ankle.
The combination of Keitel, New York City, and the Catholic Church reminds of Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets. Yet Bad Lieutenant is much more disturbing and in your face, and successfully portrays the destruction of the soul.
