MovieChat Forums > Cop (1988) Discussion > Cop (88) vs. Bad Lieutenant (92)

Cop (88) vs. Bad Lieutenant (92)

posted a year ago by ShogunofYonkers (78603)
7 replies | jump to latest

Who gave the better performance as an unhinged Police Detective?

I have to say Keitel, he was really bonkers. Woods was quite excellent though as an obsessed, not very nice Cop.

[–] MichaelJPollock (814) a year ago

I love both actors and films, but Woods is too 'square' and the characters he plays often too disciplined to be able to project the kind of sleazy, physically raw and impressive "i-feel-like-I need-to-take-a-shower-after-viewing-this-film" vibe Keitel does.
The sequence in 'Bad Lieutenant' with the two girls in the car is quite phenomenal and goes a very long way to make Keitel's character one of the sickest motherf*** in film history!
That being said, the closing shot (and its sound design) in 'Cop' is quite phenomenal as well!
(....aaaaand here it is, because one never gets tired of it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2JvK8mWJho)

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78603) a year ago

Excellent scene.
Damn, I wish Woods had worked more in the thriller and horror genres, I always liked the guy.

[–] davodikum (6212) a year ago

Probably Keitel, but I think cop is the better movie. Both are obscure classics with limited rewatch value.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78603) a year ago

I like them about equally, but Keitel's performance is insane and haunting, it's like your'e watching a guy in a barrel swiftly sailing towards Niagara Falls...He's doomed and likely knows it.

Roger Ebert, a critic I admire, probably said it best: "Keitel plays the role with such honesty it can only be called courageous, not many actors would want to be seen in this light."

[–] davodikum (6212) a year ago

Harvey was in his prime and not giving a fuck in the early ninetys. And thank fuck we might not have got resivor dogs, and in turn pulp.

[–] Jones70 (6872) 4 months ago

I disagree, Cop has high rewatch value for me. Bad Lieutenant I’d agree with tho.

[–] Aylmer (628) 4 months ago

COP is the better movie and it feels as though the hero has a brighter future at the end. He's sleazy but cunning enough to know how to plant evidence and get away with things. I like James Woods more as an actors just because he's more commanding, charismatic, and always exudes a strong intense "alpha" dominant energy which is a good model for young men. Keitel is always the more quiet, strong-silent type who owns certain roles (he's actually kinda scary as 'The Wolf' in Pulp Fiction as well as his role in From Dusk Til Dawn), the kind of guy you don't want to mess with. However, he's not quite as interesting as Woods.

BAD LIEUTENANT is just a depressing spiral following a true irredeemable mess of a main character. He has a religious conversion and sets free the two rapists (an oddly amoral thing to do) but he's too financially deep in the hole and too many people want to kill him. The final shot of the film makes it seem as though it's all over for him but it does leave a little to interpretation (he may have just been seriously wounded and not killed). I feel his character is in "more trouble" at the end and didn't really accomplish anything good compared to Woods in COP, who was more of an idealist in that "the ends justify the means" even if it means breaking all kinds of laws and losing his family/job.

So in the end, at least Woods's character had ideals and some morals while Keitel had no ideals but gradually found a semblance of morality when his life got more bleak. Personally I found Woods's journey more compelling as it had more of a sense of purpose behind it.