Bad Lieutenant (1992)

In between directing King of New York (1990) and Body Snatchers (1993), filmmaker Abel Ferrara whipped out his gritty… pic Bad Lieutenant (1992). In the neo-noir crime drama, Harvey Keitel takes naughty behavior to a whole new level. Maybe that’s why this NC-17 flick inspired Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) featuring Nicolas Cage. No doubt, the original is a cult classic. In fact, Mr. Keitel packs a punch as an alcoholic, crack-smoking degenerate cop who is supposed to be serving and protecting the people of New York City. The serving centers on trying to solve a case concerning a young nun (Frankie Thorn), but the protecting is harder to come by as witnessed in the lieutenant’s repeated drug use, heavy drinking, excessive gambling and depraved deeds. At some point in the sad story, solving the crime becomes secondary to wondering what the title character will do next as he collides with co-workers (Paul Calderón, Victor Argo) and women (Bianca Bakija, Eddie Daniels, Zoë Lund). Of course, Keitel hasn’t met a script that couldn’t benefit from some full frontal acting so it’s no surprise that his little partner in crime makes an appearance. Just 11 minutes into the movie, Harvey shows off his muscular chest, man-bush, balls and dong after he drinks himself to oblivion. When the nude dude turns around, he treats us to a view of his raw rump — all while weeping and wobbling. In other words, this bad lieutenant is also a bad drunk!