Bad Lieutenant 1992

Janet Maslin, New York Times: When Abel Ferrara calls something bad, better believe it: he means business. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: 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. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: 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. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: As good as the lead actor is, he's not enough to save this picture from landing on the scrap-heap of uninspired, derivative, and grotesquely distasteful character studies. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Harvey Keitel plays this man with such uncompromised honesty that the performance can only be called courageous; not many actors would want to be seen in this light. Read more

Time Out: Ferrara allows his star to dictate the pace, and is rewarded with a performance of extraordinary, terrifying honesty. Read more

Lawrence Cohn, Variety: Abel Ferrara's uncompromising Bad Lieutenant is a harrowing journey with a corrupt N.Y. cop sinking into the lower depths. Read more

Hal Hinson, Washington Post: This punishing film from director Abel Ferrara is something else altogether -- an illuminating, excoriating descent into the cesspool of sin, self-loathing and defilement. This is not an easy film to watch. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: It doesn't take five minutes for us to understand the depth of his immorality. But the movie proceeds to outline his badness. Read more