Review of Narc (2002) by Familiar S — 20 Jun 2010

Ray Liotta has spent his post 'Goodfellas' years in rental fodder like Corrina, Corrina, Turbulence, and Operation Dumbo Drop; however, in Narc, his turn as Harry Oak, a sweaty, overweight and coked-up detective is absolutely fantastic (hell, there isn't a bad performance to be found... and that surprisingly includes Busta Rhymes as well).

From its harrowing and spellbinding opening sequence, right through to the shocking finale, Narc is bleak and relentless, but fans of police dramas from both TV and the 70s shouldn't miss it. Director Joe Carnahan -- who also penned the script -- finds the perfect mix of procedure and predicament as Tellis (Jason Patric) and Oak (Liotta) scour the streets of Detroit only to find that their clues lead right back to the force they're part of.

What makes the film stand out is the absence of real hero characters. As Tellis, Patric has the advantage over Liotta, but the fact that the two detectives have let their personal lives become drowned out by crime makes you wonder if you could bet on either of them to do the right thing. Liotta eats up the scenes, whacking a wife beater with a cue ball in a sock, warning Tellis not to get in his way and charging through every door shotgun first.

Trapped between admiration and suspicion for the older man, Patric's character gets slowly swallowed up again into a job that nearly killed him 18 months before and his desire to solve the case becomes a way of redemption from his past mistakes. You'll think you've spotted the ending from a long way off but just when you're convinced the evidence is air tight, Carnahan twists the whole story, leaving you with this ache of regret that the mismatched duo didn't have more faith in each other from the start.

Impeccably shot, and relentless in its gritty realism, Narc may go down in history as the greatest police drama nobody has seen -- which is a shame. Made for just $5m - if there were any justice, it would have earned 15 times that -- there isn't singly once of this film that isn't fully realized. A masterful effort from Carnahan and company.