What was Herzog thinking when
dealing with this foray into the underworld of the Big Easy?
He denies that this was a remake of Ferrara’s cult effort,
but the resemblances are there. We have the character of
Terrence McDonagh, a New Orleans policeman who irreparably
injures his back while rescuing a convict during the rising
waters of Hurricane Katrina. The injury induces a sliding
drug addiction. As he succumbs, he trawls the city for
drugs, sadistic pleasures and bets. His fixation with
hunting down the murderers of five Senegalese residents
takes him into an unholy alliance with Big Fate (Alvin
‘Xzibit’ Joiner).
Cage struggles to patch together a
consistent performance. According to Manohla Dargis in the
New York Times (Nov 15, 2009), ‘Mr. Cage is
reliably unreliable.’ He falls quite someway short of
generating an impression of drug-driven angst, instead
hamming a performance that grates more than inspires.
Indeed, Herzog’s entire effort here is problematic. There
is no deep engagement with the subject matter. If anything,
one is utterly disengaged. The relationship between McDonagh
and Eva Mendes’ character, the prostitute Frankie
Donnenfeld, is a triumph of shallowness. Val Kilmer seems
to be a mere prop as Stevie Pruit, McDonagh’s
partner.
See the full article from “Scoop.co.nz”
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