Full deliriously awkward title: The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans

The very existence of this movie is proof that the universe has a sense of humor. Not quite a remake and not quite a sequel, this re-quel to the 1992 article-deprived original Bad Lieutenant, starring Harvey Keitel as a morally and chemically compromised officer of the law, is batshit insane. Nicolas Cage has never been more Nic or more Cage than he is in this movie. It’s very nearly a cosmic event.

It’s hard to talk about what makes this movie so good it’s bad and so bad it’s amazing without giving away all its best parts but picture this if you will, Nic Cage shakes down a rich kid and his ho outside a night club. At first it looks like a typical drug bust but by the time he starts begging for the “kibble” and taking contact hits from the ho’s mouth it’s clear that we’re seeing a shakedown. Not just any shakedown, a psychotic one. Nic refuses a $60K bribe of jeweled fur but goes for a full on sex act that he forces the boyfriend to watch while he peppers the depravity with taunts about the girl’s daddy issues.

And that’s before the odd alligator cam interludes and imaginary iguanas.

Nic’s not alone in crazytown either. He’s got old reliable partner-in-crime Val Kilmer and high-priced hooker with a heart of coke, Eva Mendes with him alongside a carnival show of whacko supporting performances from relative unknowns. What was the director’s advice on playing the guy that says “Oh Oh Oh” a lot that he got him to really say it a lot, I wonder?

This is one you just have to see. No amount of hyping can convey the oddness.