Narc is easily one of the best cop movies ever made. Or at least that I’ve seen. Go ask William Friedkin – he’ll agree. Joe Carnahan has made six feature films; two of them have been four star masterworks, this being one, The Grey being the other. Ray Liotta and Jason Patric were totally on fire in this film, with Carnahan playing off Patric’s famous performance in the similarly visceral and intense undercover cop thriller Rush, and Liotta playing the tough guy with a heart, …even if it takes the entire film to expose it. This is a brutal, unflinching film, pretty much right from the beyond thrilling opening sequence that makes the best use of jittery hand-held camerawork that the style has to offer. After a tragic shooting, detective Nick Tellis (Patric, filled with internalized rage and bottled-up tension) gets assigned to work with detective Henry Oak (Liotta, positively bristling with anger), who is embroiled in an investigation over the death of his partner, an undercover officer who had been helping him put the pieces together to a series of drug related murders. What follows is a convoluted yet engrossing tale of secrets, lies, betrayal, corruption, and more than a few bloody, one-on-one showdowns between characters who constantly swing back and forth between being sympathetic and downright evil. Narc operates in a world of greys; there’s not much room for black and white, and there are some moments in Narc that will push people’s buttons. Carnahan is interested in taking the audience on a hellish, passionate ride through the Detroit underbelly, and he’s constantly able to surprise and excite his audience because his multilayered screenplay has it all – great characters, great twists, great dialogue, and the opportunity for two macho actors to cut searing portraits of men pushed to the breaking point. Cliff Martinez’s electronic, ambient score heightens the tense mood in every scene, Alex Nepomniaschy’s gritty and gorgeous-ugly cinematography gets up close and personal to all of the nasty action, while the perfectly seedy production design from Greg Beale and Taavo Soodor brought a down and dirty atmosphere to the entire picture. The final act is almost overwhelming in its emotional implications on the part of various characters, while the central mystery feels more like an elaborate MacGuffin when put into context with the overall scope of the story and the layered themes that are deeply explored all throughout. Tom Cruise was one of 23 credited producers on this brilliant effort from Carnahan, a filmmaker who has had the oddest of careers, as he’s managed to bounce back and forth between stylishly frivolous (yet undeniably entertaining) action films and intense character studies. Filled with graphic violence, nasty drug addicts, frenetic chases, and all sorts of moral and thematic ambiguity that bolsters the plot and character dynamics, Narc still is one of the hardest hitting police thrillers ever crafted.
Podcasting Them Softly 