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Narc Details

2002 Certificate 18
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 5696 members

An aggressive chase and a stray bullet nearly ends the career of undercover narcotics agent Nick Tellis (Jason Patrick) whose job is tearing apart his life and his family. Tellis dreams of working a less stressful desk job, and he knows that a conviction in an upcoming case will land him the job. So he accepts an assignment .. Read more

Starring Ray Liotta, Jason Patric, Chi McBride, Busta Rhymes
Director Joe Carnahan
Genres Thriller

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Narc

An aggressive chase and a stray bullet nearly ends the career of undercover narcotics agent Nick Tellis (Jason Patrick) whose job is tearing apart his life and his family. Tellis dreams of working a less stressful desk job, and he knows that a conviction in an upcoming case will land him the job. So he accepts an assignment assisting the overlong investigation of a slain officer, hoping it will be his last experience of street work. Tellis is partnered with Lt. Henry Oak (Ray Liotta) whose unorthodox methods are part of the reason the case is still unsolved.
Strict attention to police procedure and cop lingo lift writer-director Joe Carnahan's (BLOOD, GUTS, BULLETS AND OCTANE) gritty, violent film above the cliches of the typical police thriller. NARC is fueled by impassioned performances from leads Patrick, a wary officer who seeks the truth as a means to his own psychological redemption; and Liotta (who also produced), as a broken cop with sadistic, rule-breaking tendencies. The film's grimy immediacy is to the credit of cinematographer Alex Nepomniaschy.

Starring Ray Liotta, Jason Patric, Chi McBride, Busta Rhymes, Ann Openshaw, Richard Chevolleau, John Ortiz
Director Joe Carnahan
Studio PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 41 mins
Certificate Certificate 18
Genres Thriller
Language DVD: English
Released DVD: not available
Production year: 2002
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews of Narc

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  • 3 stars out of 5

    Writer/director Joe Carnahan here deftly manipulates all the clichés of the hard-boiled cop thriller, producing an above-average example of the genre. An impressively moustachioed Jason Patric is suspended after a drugs surveillance operation ends with him accidentally shooting a pregnant woman. Almost two years later, he reluctantly agrees to be brought back on to the force to investigate the homicide of a colleague, in return for a lasting placement in a desk job. The dead man's partner, played with hair-raising energy by Ray Liotta, seems to be quite willing to break all the rules to get the killer, but Patric begins to suspect his motives and even the circumstances surrounding the cop's murder. While the overfamiliar plot often fails to convince, strong performances from the well-matched leads and the occasional stand-out set piece — the opening chase on foot is a tour de force — still manage to hold the attention.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • Most helpful member's review of Narc

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  • 11 out of 11 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    A Must

    This is the first review that I have left. That's how good this film is. The acting is brilliant, with a story line to match. It is an emotional rollercoaster, that keeps you hooked right the way through. If you like action packed, cop based thrillers then this is a must see film for you

      • Tom from London, England
      • Posted 12 Feb 2004 13:43

  • Most recent members' review of Narc

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  • 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 2 stars

    seen it too many times before...

    Training Day. Dark Blue. Dirty Harry. Cop corruption isn’t exactly a theme overflowing with ideas. But this thriller charts new waters of unoriginality in its story of a young, innocent detective being dragged into a morass of moral ambiguity by an older, ‘wiser’ cop. Heard that before? Thought so.

    Thankfully, with strong performances from its leads and stark, bold visuals, the hackneyed predictability of the storyline is somewhat concealed; Liotta in particular hasn’t been this good in years, and by the end you might even be driven to forgive Jason Patric for the heinous crime of Speed 2.

    Even so, as it reaches its gory conclusion, you can’t help wondering how you benefited from sacrificing two hours of your life to this film: watching suicidal junkies getting beaten up while unpleasant people throw monologues of swearwords at each other does what to enhance your life exactly?

      • ATfilmcritic from London
      • Posted 15 Jun 2005 18:58

  • News and features

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    Wire, The - Season 5

    Pride and Glory

    • 03 Nov 2008

    There’s more pride than glory in this throwback cop drama, a movie so firmly in the tradition of heavyweight thrillers like Serpico, Prince of the City and Q and A that you would think the script must have Sidney Lumet’s fingerprints all over it. In fact it’s written by Gavin O’Connor, who made Tumbleweeds and the hockey movie Miracle, and Joe Carnahan, who made Narc and Smokin’ Aces. O’Connor came up with the story with his twin brother Greg. They’re... Read more

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Rating breakdown

5,696 Member ratings
  • 100
311
  • 90
457
  • 80
904
  • 70
1,001
  • 60
1,139
  • 50
750
  • 40
479
  • 30
333
  • 20
219
  • 10
103

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      • An aggressive chase and a stray bullet nearly ends the career of undercover narcotics agent Nick Tellis (Jason Patrick) whose job is tearing apart his life and his family. Tellis dreams of working a ...