Hey folks, Harry here with Jake Ryan - who hasn't written in toooooo loooooong, but sure enough he's back, and this time he's talking about a really kickass film... NARC. Joe Carnahan's latest feature film which is just brutally told. The movie is what I call a hard film. Hard because it isn't that bright chipper police angst film (like the LETHAL WEAPON movies) this film aspires to be a much harder film. In fact in someways the movie reminds me of TRAINING DAY, except this is a much more complete film than that one. Do not miss this film when it opens near you!

Harry,

Its probably been about 3 years or so since I chimed in to your site with a review for the Kevin Smith classic Dogma…not that I haven’t wanted to share my views on some of the latest and greatest flicks Hollywood has sent down the pike but its often that by the time I get to write a review the film has opened and everyone is free to judge for themselves. Anyway, last nite I had the opportunity to attend a screening at Lincoln Center of Joe Carnahan’s new flick NARC. The stars Jason Patric and Ray Liotta were there for a post-screening Q&A, and I’d like to begin my review by just apologizing to Mr. Patric and Mr. Liotta who were generous enough to show up and have to sit through some of the most idiotic questions I have ever heard. These are the kinds of questions that make you cringe and from the look on Jason Patric’s face, I think he would have rather been filming Lost Boys 10 with the 2 Corey’s than listen to pseudo intellectuals ask him to compare his character in Rush to his character in NARC. His classic answer: “They are both cops.” This project is clearly a labor of love for Ray Liotta and he was definitely animated in talking about the Hollywood bullshit it takes to get one of these flicks made, and at the time the film was made he was just looking for good projects to work on and he fully expected this flick to go directly to cable. But then we all know the story about the Sundance screening, Tom Cruise’s partner Paula Wagner seeing it..Paramount buying it..blah blah blah..the rest is history, see you at the Oscars Mr. Liotta….anyway, now for my review.

NARC is definitely not a flick for everyone, its one of the most violent flicks I’ve seen in a while (and I’m talking about the real, disturbing kind of violence where someone gets the crap beat out of them and you feel it sitting in your seat in the theater). It’s a visceral experience that way, and certainly not for the faint of heart. I don’t want to include any real spoilers, as I saw this film not knowing anything more than what the trailer shows, and I think that’s probably the best way to view it…because you basically go into the film with all of these cop film cliches in your mind, expecting certain character arcs, and the film works best in its subtle efforts to subvert those types of expectations. Carnahan certainly has a style of its own, and at times the film seems almost too showy, like he wants to prove he can do something. At one point there is a 4 way split screen montage as we follow our two stars following up leads to track down a cop-killer. On one hand, I was like hey that’s cool, but when I thought about it afterwards, the use of the split screen there didn’t really add or reveal anything and I think Carnahan just did it because he thought, hey it would be cool if I could do that. I mean, props to the guy for trying shit like that out, but that kind of thing to me sometimes takes me out of the moment, and makes me remember that hey I’m watching a movie at a point where you really want to just get lost in the film. On the other hand, I do want to say that the opening sequence of the film which is basically a chase sequence through the gritty streets as Patric is trying to nail a perp was incredibly effective, and the techniques Carnahan used to capture this (which Patric revealed in the Q&A involved a stuntman wearing a camera getup and running after him to film the chase) were incredibly effective.

When you see this flick, and whether you think it’s the most original cop flick in years or think its derivative of Sidney Lumet’s work and basically any ‘is he a dirty cop or isn’t he?’ flick of the last quarter century, one thing that is safe to say that will be uniformly praised about this film are the performances. Liotta is getting all the early buzz and I have to say its incredibly well deserved. His performance blew everyone in the screening I attended away. He is magnetic on the screen. The physical transformation he underwent for this film (from the 30 pound weight gain, to the grey hair/goatee combo) is just scratching the surface. There is an incredibly telling scene in this flick, where he is in a car on a stakeout with Patric and he talks about how the loss of his wife made him a better cop. The scene is moving, its scary, its captivating…and to me its all about Liotta’s eyes. You look into those eyes and you see a cop who has lost such a deep love that who knows what the fuck he is capable of now. This is one of those performances that the people who bestow awards onto others seem to love…its scary, magnetic, and it works on so many levels. Plus I don’t think it will hurt Liotta’s chances if the press hears all about how he sought this project out because he was looking for quality work to do. While Liotta may reign as an awards favorite this year, this film should remind everyone what an amazingly talented actor Jason Patric is. He doesn’t often get to be the showy one in this flick (but trust me he has some great moments), he often has to internalize everything and he is basically our window to what the hell is going on as the story unfolds, yet in his own way Patric is every bit as captivating and every bit as great in his role as Liotta. His is the kind of performance actors don’t often enough get credit for, but when its done with the craft/emotion/strength (insert any other great adjective here because Patric is that great) that Patric shows here, its impossible not to have great admiration for the job he did. I do hope Patric works a little more often because I think its clear that he is one of the greats of my generation. In terms of performances, I would also just like to say that Busta Rhymes, who is almost unrecognizable aside from his trade mark dreads (that could be because most of his screentime he is covered in blood), also did some amazing work here.

Ok, if you cant tell from my review, I’m pretty excited about this flick and I’m actually looking forward to seeing it again so I can catch some things that I think I may have missed and have some lingering questions answered. Do yourselves a favor and try not to learn too much about the specifics of the ‘plot’ of this movie before seeing it because it does have one of those ‘endings’ that benefits the ignorant. I actually feel bad even saying that much, because now you’ll be watching it waiting for some huge surprise at the end. No, haley joel osment doesn’t see any dead people (though the flick has a decent body count). Even if cop movies aren’t your favorite genre, I would recommend seeing this one just for the performances….just stay away (or better yet just cover your eyes) if realistic violence is disturbing to you.

Ok Harry, I’ll talk to you again in about 3 years!

Peace,

Jake Ryan