Narc (2002)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

hyped garbage

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

NARC is a decent if flawed movie, an on-the-street thriller full of grit and grime and bad language. It follows the simple yet popular formula of a normal cop being partnered with a bad cop, one who may or may not be a killer. The film feels raw and low budget, with plenty of bleak visuals to give it that realistic look. There are moments of style to keep viewers watching, from the breathless shaky-cam opening chase to a split-screen investigation where we need to follow four separate cameras.Plot-wise, it goes at a rather steady pace, as the twosome interrogate various weirdos (including a man who has his genitals set alight) and drug-pushers (gotta love Liotta pushing that bald guy's head through the wall). The last thirty minutes or so, which contains a double-twist and a violent showdown with the criminals (including the excellent Busta Rhymes), is a tour-de-force of powerhouse acting, with the OTT Liotta bellowing out expletives and the what not, turning in his typically intense style of acting. Jason Patric, so bad in SPEED 2, is actually decent here and holds his own as the introspective, jaded cop. A good little film, not a classic, but worth seeing.

An undercover narc is suspended from the force when one of his assignments goes violently wrong; he is coaxed back into duty to assist a maverick cop find the killer of a fellow officer.Set in Detroit, Narc is a pretty good example of an ultra- gritty police film. It certainly starts with a bang, with an opening chase scene that ensures proceedings are begun on a highly intense note. It's certainly a dynamic start and it is indicative of the overall approach that the film will take, i.e. one that will aim for grim authenticity. Having said that, it isn't above using cinematic techniques such as split-screen as a means of illustrating a scene, while it is also visually stylised enough to use a washed out blue tint that effectively makes the urban setting seem even more cold and uninviting. The drama in the main focuses on the two detectives in a good cop/bad cop dynamic. Jason Patric is quite broody and withdrawn and Ray Liotta is a live-wire cop who doesn't play by the rules. To a certain extent their characters are a bit clichéd to be perfectly honest but both actors do good enough work with them to make them interesting and believable. But like many films of the police procedural type, it's the central mystery that ultimately keeps things ticking along and there are some decent surprises sprung along the way, including an interesting and effective ending that rounds things off just fine.

Alright, from start I'll say that I liked this movie. Although when I picked it up from watchlist I wasn't expecting much, maybe only from Ray Liotta knowing him from movies like Goodfellas, but apart from him I wasn't expecting much from the actors nor the director.As the movie started, the chase scene from the beginning was announcing a dark and realistic story. After the first scene, things got a little bit boring through the bureaucracy of the police and stuff like that. As Henry Oak(Ray Liotta) walks in, I knew this was going to get interesting, and it did. The story is told from a realistic, but predictable point of view, showing the investigation conducted by a team of two police men in attempt to find the killer of an undercover officer.Now, about the end, I can definitely say that the director clearly wants you to think you know how it ends. At that moment, you think you've read his mind and you could have wrote the movie, but there is another plot twist and suddenly Ray Liotta turns from the bad cop to the good cop again, just like he portrayed his character throughout the movie.In the end I want to explain the title of this review. It's about the multiple clichés from a cop movie. A team of cops go around the town, searching for clues in attempting to resolve the case. They have a list of suspects, visit them and smash around their houses hoping to find something, until someone mentions a name. The word "tension" is for the same parts of the movie but here I can include the end, which is not a total cliché. The movie keeps you interested in a way a cop movie should and I totally liked it.

I loved this movie, great acting all around except maybe for the busta rhymes job and his partner. I really liked the cinematography, kind of neon-ish yellows, reds, purples; dark but not necessarily Sin City dark. It is a movie that will make you see different sides to every story. Liotta, I usually always like and he did not disappoint, and the guy with the mustachio who played his new detective partner also did a great job. It's a movie that deals with drug addiction and inner city crime basically, but it has a very humanistic element. You really see how all the pieces fit together right at the end, and it is a great ending. I only read reviews AFTER I watch movies to see what other opinions were and so if you read this, maybe you'll agree with some points.