After Katrina, police sergeant Terence McDonagh rescues a prisoner, hurts his back in the process and earns a promotion to lieutenant plus an addiction to cocaine and painkillers.
Six months later, a family is murdered over drugs; Terence runs the investigation. His drug-using prostitute girlfriend, his alcoholic father's dog, run-ins with two old women and a well-connected john, gambling losses, a nervous young witness, and thefts of police property put Terence's job and then his life in danger.
He starts seeing things. He wants a big score to get out from under mounting debts, so he joins forces with drug dealers.
After a few years in the wilderness of decidedly dodgy movies, Cage is back in his full blown, over the top best (he probably hasn't been this maniacal since face/off)under the supervision of genius Herzog.
any similarities to the Ferrera movie is in title alone, as this really has nothing to do with that film. It appears that the titular character is on the road to redemption in this film, doing something good in the beginning, and being punished for it throughout the film.
We meet some bizarre characters throughout the movie, and ironically the only 'normal' characters in the film are the perpetrators of the film. Cages accent changes almost halfway through the film for some bizarre reason, and his limp and gait becomes more prominent toward the third act.
Connotations toward hallucinations and drug taking are rife throughout, and sometimes we are viewing the world through Neils eyes, rather than that of the viewer.
Herzog makes brilliant use of camera work and the sets, and the cinematography is sometimes very psychedelic.
For a film that is so downbeat at times, the ending is surprisingly uplifting and happy, Neils path to redemption appears complete, despite the strange ending.
With nods to Lynch and DePalma, this is one of those movies, that will become depressingly more popular as time goes on, rather than when initially released.
Unmissable.
Six months later, a family is murdered over drugs; Terence runs the investigation. His drug-using prostitute girlfriend, his alcoholic father's dog, run-ins with two old women and a well-connected john, gambling losses, a nervous young witness, and thefts of police property put Terence's job and then his life in danger.
He starts seeing things. He wants a big score to get out from under mounting debts, so he joins forces with drug dealers.
After a few years in the wilderness of decidedly dodgy movies, Cage is back in his full blown, over the top best (he probably hasn't been this maniacal since face/off)under the supervision of genius Herzog.
any similarities to the Ferrera movie is in title alone, as this really has nothing to do with that film. It appears that the titular character is on the road to redemption in this film, doing something good in the beginning, and being punished for it throughout the film.
We meet some bizarre characters throughout the movie, and ironically the only 'normal' characters in the film are the perpetrators of the film. Cages accent changes almost halfway through the film for some bizarre reason, and his limp and gait becomes more prominent toward the third act.
Connotations toward hallucinations and drug taking are rife throughout, and sometimes we are viewing the world through Neils eyes, rather than that of the viewer.
Herzog makes brilliant use of camera work and the sets, and the cinematography is sometimes very psychedelic.
For a film that is so downbeat at times, the ending is surprisingly uplifting and happy, Neils path to redemption appears complete, despite the strange ending.
With nods to Lynch and DePalma, this is one of those movies, that will become depressingly more popular as time goes on, rather than when initially released.
Unmissable.