--- title: "Bad Lieutenant: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/bad-lieutenant/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/bad-lieutenant" critics_score: 73 critics_reviews: 13 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Bad Lieutenant (1992): what the critics said Critics' score 73 from 13 reviews: 10 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative. ## Slant Magazine — Jeremiah Kipp Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 August 2009. The critic calls it one of the most important films of the 1990s for its raw, neorealist depiction of a corrupt, depraved cop's descent and fleeting shot at grace. Ferrara and Keitel are praised for turning the story into a personal, frightening psychic diary about sin, Catholicism, and redemption. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/bad-lieutenant/) ## The AV Club — Matthew Allan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 20 November 2022. The piece frames the film as a 30th-anniversary classic in which Ferrara, Lund, and Keitel channel their own struggles with addiction into a raw, empathetic portrait of a vice-ridden cop confronting faith and forgiveness. It highlights the film's authentic textures, improvised feel, and enduring power as a life-affirming allegory of sin and redemption. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/bad-lieutenant-30-harvey-keitel-abel-ferrara-zoe-lund-1849781913) ## Empire — Ian Nathan Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2002. The film is a powerful if overbearing study of a soul swallowed by depravity, with Ferrara out-sleazing his own oeuvre. Keitel delivers an almost unbearably sincere performance as the cussedly vile cop in what may be the director's finest hour. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/bad-lieutenant-review/) ## Radio Times — Alan Jones Rating 4/5. Abel Ferrara delivers another exceptionally strong film with this controversial story of a corrupt cop seeking redemption through investigating a nun's rape. It stands out for its extreme explicitness and violence, intended to shock audiences, anchored by Harvey Keitel's bravest performance. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-8u1502/bad-lieutenant/) ## Time Out — TCh Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 16 January 2012. The film is a raw slice of low life centered on a depraved, addicted cop whose investigation of a nun's rape leads to an unexpected path toward redemption. It stands out for Harvey Keitel's extraordinarily honest, soul-baring performance that allows the director to push the boundaries of degradation and grace. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/bad-lieutenant) ## Los Angeles Times — Peter Rainer Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 30 December 1992. Ferrara delivers a grungy, Scorsese-like descent into a corrupt cop's hellish world of addiction and vice, with the nun's rape case prompting a twisted path to redemption. Keitel's intense performance anchors the compelling but over-the-top religious freak show. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-30-ca-2404-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 22 January 1993. The critic praises Harvey Keitel's courageous and uncompromised performance as the depraved, drug-addicted lieutenant spiraling out of control. He singles out the nun's act of forgiveness and the film's serious engagement with spirituality, guilt, and the possibility of redemption. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bad-lieutenant-1993) ## Variety — Lawrence Cohn Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 May 1992. Festival review. The film is a harrowing portrait of a corrupt NY cop's descent through drug addiction, sex, and loss of faith, highlighted by Keitel's uninhibited lead performance. Its explicit content and religious themes mark it as highly controversial, premiering at Cannes. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1992/film/reviews/bad-lieutenant-1200429787/) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 19 February 1993. This is a character study with grand pretensions about faith and salvation that ultimately ring hollow, amounting to bull of a very high order. Ferrara is a skillful filmmaker who builds character and mood with minimal means, and Keitel's naked anguish in the central performance is unquestionable. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-the-beat-goes-on-and-on-1473887.html) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 20 November 1992. The film centers on a corrupt, drug-addled cop whose depravity is both shocking and darkly comic at times. Ferrara's raw talent and vivid New York locations stand out amid the sensationalism and uneven execution. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/20/movies/review-film-jaded-cop-raped-nun-bad-indeed.html) ## The Playlist — Nicholas Laskin Rating A+. 25 November 2021. The critic calls it one of the most disturbing and unsparing American films ever made, highlighting Harvey Keitel's ferocious, naked performance as the bigoted, heroin-addicted cop in a hellish downward spiral while investigating a nun's rape. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/essentials-films-abel-ferrara-20211125/) ## HeyUGuys — Barry Steele Rating 4/5. 16 April 2012. The review calls the film a dark, grimy mood piece reminiscent of Taxi Driver, with a loose structure focused on the lieutenant's self-destructive spiral. Keitel's immense, sincere and brave performance is highlighted as what elevates it to a masterpiece of sorts, exploring themes of faith, guilt and humanity. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/bad-lieutenant-blu-ray-review/) ## Eye for Film — Themroc Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 29 March 2010. The critic describes the film as an ugly, downbeat and virtually plotless character study of a morally bankrupt cop, praising its exploration of redemption through a harrowing lens. Keitel's intense, fearless central performance is singled out as mesmerizing and central to the film's power despite its austerity and sordid content. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/bad-lieutenant-film-review-by-themroc) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/bad-lieutenant.md