Reel Critics:

Sandra Bullock keeps reinventing herself as an actress. She appears in films with wild variations in quality and depth. She took us through the pathetic humor of “Miss Congeniality 2” to her gritty performance in the Oscar winning “Crash.” But she clearly brings her best skills to bear in “The Blind Side.”

Sandra plays a no-nonsense mom focused on the success of her family at all levels. She’s a savvy example of a wealthy modern white woman in the deep South. She raises many eyebrows when she invites a homeless black teenager to stay in her home. He is a gentle giant who defies the terrible background that left him depending on the charity of strangers.

The first half of the film deals with the newcomer adapting to the dynamics of her family life and neighborhood. The second half is a standard variation of Hollywood’s “high school football player makes the big time” theme. But behind the heartwarming story and fine acting, there lurks a subtle racism.

Every black character other than our homeless hero is a criminal, a drug addict or worse. His success in school and sports completely relies on the generosity of the kindly white folks who take him into their fabulous estate. While his own people wallow in their degrading ghetto lifestyle, he has breakfast on the veranda with his new family. In the end, there’s a lot to like and a lot to ponder in this film.

So ‘Bad’ it’s good

After sleepwalking through a string of silly paycheck movies, Nicolas Cage is wild and crazy again in “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.” This is the Oscar-winning actor’s most energized role since “Face/Off.”

Directed by always-great Werner Herzog, it’s an enjoyable remake of the 1992 cult classic about a rogue cop.

In this incarnation, the setting is post-Katrina New Orleans and Cage is homicide cop Terence McDonagh. The story revolves around his investigation of some very grisly murders, his call girl girlfriend (Eva Mendes), his father, his bookie and his boss. Oh yes, there is also his cocaine habit. And some iguanas.

What makes Cage and this movie so fun is the unpredictability and black humor. McDonagh, hunched from a bad back and a Magnum in his pants, wild-eyed from drugs and lack of sleep, is an enigma. Is he a crazy good cop or a crazy bad cop? Just watch how his eyes dance at the mention of “property room.”

“Bad Lieutenant” is a feverish, surreal dream and you may wonder if somebody dropped something into your soda.

The acting is fresh, especially from Mendes, Val Kilmer, Xzibit and an unrecognizable Jennifer Coolidge, and there’s a kicker of an ending that is so out there it makes perfect sense.

JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.