 Not to mention bad father, bad cop, bad husband, bad addict, bad date . . . . and the picture for bad in the American Heritage Dictionary. Harvey Keitel plays a cop with few issues in this overwrought but ultimately affecting Catholic Guilt Movie. Just how bad is he you might ask? If I may digress. . . .while on duty he snorts coke, smokes crack and heroin, shoots heroin, drinks while driving (MADD, SADD and other ADD’s beware), sells/buys drugs from street dealers, parties with hookers (while married with four kids, a wife and resident mother in-law), takes stolen money and drugs from thieves, sexually harasses teenage girls (masturbates in front of them after stopping them for speeding), tells his cute kids to shut the f**k up, gambles, AND takes the lord’s name in vain (they cut out scenes where he kills dolphins, marches in a 'Fur is Good' parade and votes Republican). And because all that character exposition is not enough we are treated to another viewing of Full Frontal Harvey, giving new hope to all men saddled with love handles and knobby protuberances. I though the film spent too much time showing Keitel’s excesses and too little time telling us how he got that way (bad is not a terribly complex adjective). Eventually, without knowing his motivations, his endless 'Will To Decadence' becomes simply amusing. Then, believe it or not, near the film’s climax, the plot reveals a depth un-looked for and I realized that beneath all the histrionics resided a thoughtful message on the nature of forgiveness. It made me sit up and think about the rest of what I‘d seen and feel pleased that I hadn’t given it up. An unusual film to say the least and a good rental when in the grip of self-loathing. Must be that early Catholic upbringing. Jerry Falwell’s favorite movie on the Palermo scale. About the author: "the way it was" You may read another review, submit your own, or return home. |
