Bad Lieutenant

Play trailer

Bad Lieutenant

NC-17

1992

1h 38m

Crime

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

78%

Tomatometer

51 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

The Lieutenant (Harvey Keitel) is a corrupt cop steeped in gambling debt who exploits his authority to sexually harass teenage girls, embezzle money and abuse drugs. His troubles come to a head when a mob lackey delivers an ultimatum: pay off his debt, or else. His fate appears sealed. But when The Lieutenant learns that a $50,000 reward is being offered to whoever catches a pair of thugs who raped a nun (Frankie Thorn), he jumps at the opportunity, hoping that he can still redeem himself.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Critics Consensus

Bad Lieutenant will challenge less desensitized viewers with its depiction of police corruption, but Harvey Keitel's committed performance makes it hard to turn away.

Read Critics Reviews

Jake Cole

Slant Magazine

Even by the scuzzy standards of Abel Ferrara’s filmography, Bad Lieutenant is particularly filthy.

Jun 5, 2024

Full Review

Peter Rainer

Los Angeles Times

[Keitel] keeps us watching his descent without wanting to look away. Only an actor with tremendous reserves of power could accomplish that.

Jan 8, 2019

Full Review

Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

It's a powerhouse performance in a film of jabbing intensity and wit.

Jan 8, 2019

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Keitel’s performance is astonishing, with the actor completely exposing himself physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 18, 2024

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Ferrara seeks to expose his subject. What this film is about is the performance, Keitel’s absolute bearing of his character’s soul.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 30, 2023

Full Review

Farah Cheded

A Good Movie To Watch

Always one for provocation, director Abel Ferrara pushes our empathy to — and maybe even beyond — its natural limits, only to break with the film’s hitherto unrelenting grit and dangle the glinting possibility of transcendent redemption in front of us.

Aug 25, 2023

Full Review

Read all reviews

Dallas H

The Catholic guilt is spread on thick like Nutella on toast. As usual, Abel Ferrara loves to demonstrate the depravity of morality in the common human. Honestly, I prefer Ms. 45 over Bad Lieutenant, but this movie is filled with the in-our-face emotional strain. And it's crazy to see Zoë Lund appear in a small role as a drug junkie in this movie, as she also shared screenwriting credit with Ferrara and also appeared in the lead role in Ms. 45.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/25/24

Full Review

Sams K

Just great! One of Keitel best acting.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/10/24

Full Review

Noel P

The best film I saw from the 90s. And the best performance by Harvey Keitel I've seen. Raw, disturbing, and even a little funny at times. It's also ironically the best film that maps out the difficult Catholic concept of forgiveness and redemption.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/24

Full Review

KB B

I had high hopes considering the "expert" reviews but it got longer and longer during the last third. Harvey Keitel is a decent actor but definitely cannot carry a movie on his own. Watch if there's absolutely nothing else on.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/09/24

Full Review

jwcdood

Although, at this late date, BAD LIEUTENANT is a dated production, it's still a a very good [and very unusual] story with a killer performance by a great actor (Harvey Kietel) and certainly worth more than one watch! ✨🥴👍✨

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/01/23

Full Review

Leaburn O

Harvey Keitel is excellent here. There's very little else to say as the title kind of does the job for you in an understated way. The lieutenant is really very bad but he eventually feels some forgiveness before karma catches up with him. Shot in a grimey way that feels late 70s rather than 92 ish. Has a feel of Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. No surprises but worth a watch as quite short. Saw it on Prime.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/24/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Abel Ferrara

Director

Harvey Keitel

The Lieutenant

Frankie Thorn

The Nun

Zoë Lund

Zoe

Anthony Ruggiero

Lite

Eddie Daniels

Jersey Girl (driver)

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Bad Lieutenant: Official Clip - She Forgives You

1:41

Bad Lieutenant: Official Clip - Fine Brown Stuff

2:59

Bad Lieutenant: Official Clip - I'm Sorry!

4:15

Bad Lieutenant: Official Clip - Routine Traffic Stop

4:18

Bad Lieutenant: Official Clip - Drug Counselor or Drug Dealer

2:30

Bad Lieutenant: Official Clip - Corner Store Altercation

2:14

Bad Lieutenant: Official Clip - Evidence

1:12

Bad Lieutenant: Official Clip - Forgiveness

3:26

Bad Lieutenant: Official Clip - Baseball Gambling

1:43

View more videos

Romper Stomper

79%

73%

Romper Stomper

Watchlist

Night and the City

57%

30%

Night and the City

Watchlist

Romeo Is Bleeding

27%

61%

Romeo Is Bleeding

Watchlist

Billy Bathgate

36%

28%

Billy Bathgate

Watchlist

Carlito's Way

84%

91%

Carlito's Way

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Carlito's Way

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Interview: Abel Ferrara Says Ms. 45 Terrified a Grindhouse Crowd

Cage Unleashes Crazy In Bad Lieutenant Trailer

Further Reading: Marion Cotillard and Forest Whittaker in Abel Ferrara’s Mary

View more photos

Synopsis

The Lieutenant (Harvey Keitel) is a corrupt cop steeped in gambling debt who exploits his authority to sexually harass teenage girls, embezzle money and abuse drugs. His troubles come to a head when a mob lackey delivers an ultimatum: pay off his debt, or else. His fate appears sealed. But when The Lieutenant learns that a $50,000 reward is being offered to whoever catches a pair of thugs who raped a nun (Frankie Thorn), he jumps at the opportunity, hoping that he can still redeem himself.

Director: Abel Ferrara
Producer: Edward R. Pressman, Mary Kane
Screenwriter: Abel Ferrara, Zoë Lund
Production Co: Bad Lt. Productions
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 1, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA): $47.5K
Runtime: 1h 38m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Most Popular at Home Now