Review of Narc (2002) by Garrett R — 01 Jun 2012

NARC is an absolutely brilliant cop drama with honest and intense performances from Jason Patric and most certainly Ray Liotta, while also serving as the directorial debut from director/writer Joe Carnahan. Its story is simple and honest, its acting prowess is as good as cop dramas can possibly showcase, and many brutal moments heighten the tension of Nicke Tellis (Patric) and Henry Oak's (Ray Liotta) increasingly complicated case.

Set within the familiar framework of a good-cop/on-the-edge cop partnership on a cold case jump-started back up again, Carnahan puts a few new narrative spins on the almost too-overdone cop drama genre (just look at all the CBS crime dramas from the 2000's). The murder scene under scrutiny is recalled at first from afar, blurred and uncertain (as is the psyche and understanding of Tellis) and as the mystery fades away, so does the camera's blur in the flashbacks; and so the flashbacks become clearer and more established (as Tellis' own understanding does). We see the events close-up, and they differ from many perspectives...until the one that matters comes to light. These flashbacks ultimately clarify the truth behind the dead cop's untimely death. Brilliant approach, to be certain.

NARC is not a action-oriented cop drama. It is instead a character-and-story powered cop drama that happens to feature a number of brutally violent moments that fit into the horror genre more than the cop drama genre. Just so, in fact, to offset any comfortable notions that NARC is an ordinary police procedural film that glorifies the law force in an unrealistic manner.

To be frank, NARC is a cop drama that pulls no punches in honestly portraying flawed men in blue who blur the truth with morality and protocol without realizing it until that one moment hits hard.

Speaking of hitting hard, Jason Patric's soft-spoken yet emotionally-conflicted Nick Tellis is stuck on that one disastrous case (which opens with a bang in the film's beginning) that haunts him well into his life with his wife and newborn. His performance anchors the film's humanity, while Ray Liotta's wild-eyed, emotionally unstable and morally unjustifiable brute cop Henry Oak is the tide that pushes against the anchor. It's a dynamic acting setup that payoffs big-time, most memorably in the film's climax when the case is red-hot, and not cold anymore.

NARC is a given in being one of the 2000's top-ranking cop-drama films, for good reason. Under-seen and under-appreciated, NARC is definitely worth another look 10 years later as a fine directorial debut from Joe Carnahan as well as a small gem of a major contributor to its genre that inadvertently set off the cop dramas that are now on re-run on AMC and day-time TV.