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01/10/03

1 hr. 47 mins.
Starring: Ray Liotta, Jason Patric, Busta Rhymes, Chi McBride, Anne Openshaw, Richard Chevolleau, John Ortiz, Thomas Patrice
Directed by: Joe Carnahan

Rating: ** ½ stars (out of 4 stars)

One can certainly appreciate writer-director Joe Carnahan’s defiant gritty urban police drama Narc that paints a riveting portrait of law enforcement and its revealing dealings with the lowlifes that infest the concrete jungle. No doubt Carnahan’s gory and glib film delves into the realm of despair and disillusionment thanks to the blatant violent overtones that gives this haunting narrative its bleak, stirring personality. However disturbing and dank Narc is as a fearless fable of cynicism in the mean-spirited streets of the ruthless inner city, the film cannot help but echo the caustic conventions of countless crime melodramas that have explored this premise already. There are nicely done twists and turns that give Narc its compelling and stylistic tics of grimy moodiness. Still, it has the exaggerated feel of a ‘70s crime drama with the roguish tough cop mentality to supplement the seedy spirit of its cold-hearted convictions. Haggard police personnel, the riff raffish opportunists, the disoriented victims, colorful cop lingo and the stench of the hazardous surroundings give Narc its rousing element of sleazy adventure. But even with all this in mind, the story does bring forth a surprisingly conventional approach to an excitable genre that has somehow exhausted its sense of intrigue.

We are whisked away to the dangerous dungeon known as the drug-riddled streets of Detroit where the degenerates are running the asylum. Meet hairy-faced undercover cop Nick Tellis (Jason Patric), a weary and intense individual who has been assigned to curve the madness that exists so convincingly in the broken down squalor of the neighborhoods he oversees with amazing indifference. When Tellis accidentally shoots and kills a pregnant woman after trying to stop a crazed drug dealer on a syringe-induced murdering spree, he is relieved of his duty via a suspension. But a deal is then hatched. If Tellis accepts an assignment by pairing with a gun-ho rabble-rouser detective named Henry Oak (Ray Liotta), his suspension would be lifted.

In the meantime, the brooding and grayish goateed Oak is saddled with his own career-minded conflict as he is still bothered by the death of his good buddy and protégé Calvess. And to deal with his loss, the antagonistic Oak adopts a harsh “take-no-prisoners” philosophy. In avenging his late pal’s death, Oak must make the sordid world pay by putting into play his loose-cannon shenanigans. And thus the investigation concerning Calvess’ demise is underway. Incidentally, other pending matters at hand will have the complex duo knee deep in turmoil.

As the tortured twosome parade around the Motor City looking to take on the mayhem, the film’s plot adheres to switching gears by including other subplots that complicate the tandem’s investigative duties. Oak, it appears, is suspiciously close and protective of his late partner’s widow (Anne Openshaw). And Tellis is having a rocky time at trying to juggle his crime-fighting while tending to his fragile marriage. Clearly, both his professional and personal life gives this guy his sole purpose for survival. But Tellis is in an emotional quandary and simply doesn’t know what line to draw in terms of his priorities.

Narc is a creepy balancing act of sorts. As a filmmaker, Carnahan’s virulent vehicle craftily weighs an assortment of issues on the scale of indecision. Through his embittered and distraught protagonists, the audience is afforded the opportunity to tackle the morality play of these worn-out characters. Is the brutality of the good guys just as despicable and justified as the menaces of society they’re forced to apprehend? Is there a fine line between the questionable ethics of the heroic authorities versus the street credo of the villains they’re trying to corral? Is the societal deterioration to the point that we cannot tell the positive forces from the negative ones?

The suspense factor in Carnahan’s exposition is raw and immersed with tension. It’s plain to see that the moviemaker’s vision is reminiscent of other probing urbanized showcases such as the classic The French Connection for instance. With that comparison aside, Narc’s gripping effectiveness is in its ability to convey the ugliness and desperation within its characterizations and the hideous surroundings that cater to their tattered psyches. There’s a landscape of lunacy that gels suitably with the corroding contemporary settings.

Narc fills the bill adequately as a bitingly bitter cop caper with its crackerjack outlook on the rough gloominess of narcotic detectives and their tumultuous topsy-turvy universe. Yet this somehow doesn’t dismiss the fact that Carnahan’s calculating crime story is another showy saga about angst-ridden unsung heroes slaving away at their perilous jobs with an ambiguous personal agenda much like what we saw in the overly praised formulaic actioner Training Day. Sure, Narc exudes a certain eye-popping realism that is undoubtedly unflinching. But the movie is also strangely typical with its shocking albeit perfunctory premise detailing the tactics pertaining to a couple of crusading cops looking to find daunting answers to lingering questions that pierce their scared souls.

Both Liotta and Patric are abrasively effective as the plagued pair asked to patrol the putrid scoundrels who dish out their high-priced poison to the many undesirables in a vulnerable community willing to partake in the vicious circle of criminal activity. As the determined rule breaker Oak, Liotta is wickedly animated and the extra bulk he’s carrying on his normally lean body frame conveys an overbearing presence that definitely casts an ominous shadow. Patric’s Tellis is the scrappier and more introspective cop with a wounded bewilderment that speaks volumes. And although their characters are solidly concocted, you can’t help but notice that the on screen personas portrayed by Liotta and Patric are nothing more than colorful throwbacks from every conflicted cinematic Cop 101 course we’ve seen hundreds of times before. Even the supporting players get into the recycled mode of reinforcing the same old tired material. Chi McBride (from TV’s Boston Public) plays the routine role of a flustered hulking black superior having to chastise his controversial charges but secretly support the way they go about their unorthodox business because they are good at what they do.

The urgency of Narc’s look is authentically crisp in its telling dinginess thanks to the impressive cinematography by Alex Nepomniaschy. Plus the edginess of Cliff Martinez’s methodical score lends this picture its somber aura. Overall, Carnahan has the rustic feel for his intensifying mundane movie. The message of hopelessness and being hostage to the everyday rigors of the unpredictable hellhole we know as the rotting profile of an out-of-control society is indeed a rude awakening to behold. If only Narc had its originality in check, this could have been more of a chilling visceral ride into depravity.