An extremely dark crime drama movie is on TV tonight

Stephen Porzio

Banned in the UK on home video for a time, Martin Scorsese once called it one of the best films of the ’90s.

Our TV movie pick for tonight (Wednesday, 2 October) is Bad Lieutenant, the extremely dark 1992 crime drama starring Oscar-nominee Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs).

The actor plays the unnamed title character, a corrupt New York cop addicted to drugs and steeped in gambling debt who exploits his authority in a variety of awful ways.

While investigating a shocking crime committed against a nun, however, the policeman starts to wrestle with his shocking actions. Can he find redemption despite what he has done?

Co-written and directed by cult filmmaker Abel Ferrara (King of New York), Bad Lieutenant plunges the viewer into the depths of addiction and depravity before building to an incredibly powerful Church-set scene in which Keitel’s cop finally properly reckons with his crimes.

And though the film provoked controversy upon release for its lurid story – it was even banned in the UK on home video for a period – Bad Lieutenant was also praised by many for its stunningly brave central performance, its authentically gritty direction, and the film’s religious iconography and theme of redemption.

In fact, Martin Scorsese named it the fifth best movie of the ’90s, telling critic Roger Ebert: “Abel Ferrara‘s Bad Lieutenant, starring my old friend and collaborator Harvey Keitel. He’s always taken risks as an actor, and in the ’90s, in this film in particular, he really reached his prime.”

Ferrara’s movie also later got a sort-of reboot starring Nicolas Cage, which is also excellent if less abrasive in its content.

The original Bad Lieutenant is airing on the channel Legend tonight at 10.50pm. It is also available to stream on Plex.

Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:

There’s Something About Mary – Comedy Central – 9pm

Everyone is pining for Cameron Diaz in one of the funniest films of all time.

The Lost City – Film4 – 9pm

A romance novelist (Sandra Bullock) and the model who appears on the covers of her books (Channing Tatum) get swept up in an adventure in this very fun comedy, with a great Brad Pitt supporting turn.

Conan the Barbarian – ITV4 – 9pm

The classic sword-and-sorcery film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

RoboCop 2 – Sky Sci-Fi – 9pm

This sequel to action sci-fi classic RoboCop is a mixed bag.

The Loft – Legend Xtra – 11pm

Karl Urban leads the cast of this US remake of a Belgian erotic thriller.

Con Air – Film4 – 11.15pm

“Put… the bunny… back… in the box.”

Yardie – BBC Two – 11.30pm

Idris Elba made his directorial debut with this 2018 crime drama about a Jamaican gangster (Aml Ameen) in London that was also recently added to Netflix.

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