Nicolas Cage plays Terence McDonagh, a police detective who starts the film by saving a prisoner from drowning during Hurricane Katrina. He injures his back in the process, leading to a crippling addiction to Vicodin, cocaine, and whatever else he can find in the evidence locker.
The film operates on "dream logic." Problems that should ruin McDonagh’s life—gambling debts, corrupt internal affairs investigations—somehow resolve themselves through sheer, chaotic luck. The Verdict Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Whether it’s a masterpiece or a fever dream is still up for debate, but one thing is certain: Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port called New Orleans (2009) is one of the most unhinged pieces of cinema ever to hit the mainstream. Nicolas Cage plays Terence McDonagh, a police detective