Narc
August 2003 Reviewed by: Josh Barber Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Like a veteran policeman walking the beat he's had since his rookie days, Narc covers old familiar ground.

A suspended undercover narcotics officer (Jason Patric) is brought back in to investigate the death of a fellow cop. Partnered with the slain man's somewhat unstable mentor (Ray Liotta), he begins to unravel the lies and corruption that have permeated the force for a long time.

Much like Training Day before it, Narc is a two-man film. Jason Patric carries the main weight of the story, as we see everything through his eyes. His portrayal of Nick Tellis, a character whose name is possibly the most subtly direct since "Marcus Wellby," is subdued and low-key. Tellis identifies with the fallen officer, and it's Patric's job to make us care as well.

Conversely, Ray Liotta portrays Detective Henry Oak as a short-tempered loudmouth who's not above throwing some perp a beating if he thinks the guy deserves it. He wants nothing more than to find out who is responsible for his ex-partner's death. Liotta brings a simmering anger to his role. The actor even went so far as to gain 25 pounds so he would look more appropriate. Both leads do a wonderful job bringing the tale to life.

The script -- as laced with flashbacks, narration, and surprise revelation as it is -- could easily have become bogged down in story, but writer/director Joe Carnahan knew what his film needed and delivered it. His directing is stylish without ever being indecipherable, and shows a great deal of accomplishment. With less skill, this could have been a low-rent Tarentino pastiche, but instead is thoroughly professional.

Narc finds a good home on this DVD. The colors are deep and vibrant, swinging from the icy blues of Tellis's professional life to the warm oranges of his home. A few scenes were shot with a different film stock, and are intentionally grainy and desaturated.

Editor John Gilroy joins Carnahan for a commentary track that is one of the most entertaining I've heard in recent memory. Their banter is a terrific mix of humor and genuinely enthralling information about the filmmaking process, interrupted by just a few moments of silence.

There are four documentary featurettes in the Special Features section. The 13-minute "Narc: Making the Deal" covers the origins of the film. "Narc: Shooting Up" is a 20-minute look at the production. The movie’s visual style is discussed in the 12-minute "Narc: The Visual Trip," and crime-film director William Friedkin talks about Narc and his own body of work in "The Friedkin Connection."

The original theatrical trailer is included, as are previews for The Italian Job, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Time Line, The Hunted, and The Core. These films have little to do with Narc and exhibit shameless advertising from Paramount, an attempt to get home-video viewers to go out to theaters and see a current flick.

Since their heyday in the late '60s and early '70s, cop movies have become fairly clichéd. Of course, as writer/director Carnahan points out in his commentary, clichés become cliché because they're true. Narc takes all the old ideas and embraces them, relying on its story and its cast's performance to see it through. Narc doesn't talk down to its audience, as many R-rated films do, and that's to be admired.

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