Narc

After over seven months of enforced suspension after an investigation went fatally wrong, Detective Nick Tellis (Patric) is told by his superiors that if he wants to resurrect his career, he will have to help in the case of a murdered undercover narcotics officer. He reluctantly accepts and is partnered with the officer's old Lieutenant, Henry Oak (Liotta) who wants to catch his killer at any cost.

After making a splash at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001 and grabbing the attention of Tom Cruise thereafter (who would later go one to champion the movie and act as its producer), Narc is a showcase of brilliant character acting and intelligent scriptwriting combining to make on of the most riveting cop dramas in years.

The much-underrated Jason Patric and Ray Liotta electrify the screen with their presence in this exhilarating look at the pressures of undercover life of the narcotics cop. This movie is all about their performances as one or both of them grace the screen for the entire film and in the hands of lesser actors the whole production would have fell apart. These roles are the best either actor has had in a very long time with Liotta recapturing his Goodfellas and Field of Dreams promise and Patric retreating the path he took with his role in 1991 with Rush. The movie should elevate the pair back into the character actor pack and hoping make a few directors and producers realise how good these guys actually are.

Writer/Director Joe Carnahan does an excellent job bringing this gritty storyline and characters to life with strong writing and a certain amount of visual flare. He pays homage to the hardnosed cop thrillers of the 70s with the film's dark, grainy look and his use of split-screen camera styles to tell the investigative side of the story. His characters are hard and uncompromising, like Popeye Doyle or Harry Callahan but with a hint of a 21st century conscience creeping during the gripping finale.

This is excellent character driven police drama that reintroduces Ray Liotta and Jason Patric to the world as quality actors and puts Joe Carnahan on the director to watch list. Uncompromising, violent and gripping, Narc is let down only by its slightly unoriginal plot but the performances of the two leads make this one of the best police dramas in a long time.

Audio Commentary by writer/director Joe Carnahan and editor John Gilroy, Narc: Making the Deal, Narc: Shooting up, Narc: The Visual Trip, The Friedkin Connnection, Theatrical Traile,r Interactive Menu & Scene Access

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2003