Narc

A blood-soaked, hellish experience -- a midnight special for lovers of a violent genre -- yet it has been made with a mixture of ferocity and sweetness which leaves one exhausted but at peace. [27 January 2003, p. 94]

It joins “Rush,” “The Onion Field,” “Serpico,” “Seven,” “The French Connection,” Traffic, and “Prince of the City” as a grimy, hyper-real exploration of the emotional and psychological prices paid by cops.

It's a cop movie that refuses to cop out in the usual way.

A no-bull throwback to 1970s action films. It zips along with B-movie verve while adding the rich details and go-for-broke acting that heralds something special.

It's a stunner that sadly grows tiresome at the end.

Frustratingly, Carnahan barely trusts his storytelling to keep our attention long enough to get through a scene without some grisly cutaway -- a gun to the head, the writhing wounded.

The movie is designed to show off Liotta's acting skills, but pointless mayhem and sheer nastiness crowd out any virtues it might have had.

Greetings from Lithuania. "Narc" (2002) is a gritty, dark and tense drama thriller that was written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It's strengths lies in a involving story, and excellent performances by the late great Ray Liotta and Jason Patric. This is a relatively low budget cop drama, and there isn't much action. It is a more "whodunnit" set in gritty Detroit. At its running time 1 h 38 min "Narc" does drag here and there, and the last act of film is were the most tension comes from. Overall, "Narc" isn't particularly entertaining film, but it has solid and gritty story, great acting by two leads and solid setting.