Narc

The dirty cop story has been kicking around cinema screens since the days of film noir.  So, any attempt at updating the clichés has better bring something new to the table. 2002’s Narc relies on its cast and characters – not to mention the gloomy urban landscape of Detroit, which is really another character unto itself – to elevate the material.  Which they do.  Trouble is writer / director Joe Carnahan’s script is a studiedly serious exercise is recycled plot devices and narrative dead-ends that wastes all the gritty authenticity it’s got going for it.

Former undercover narcotics officer Nick Tellis (Jason Patric) is lured back onto the force by the promise of a steady paycheck and a cushy desk job if he can close the case of murdered cop, Michael Calvess.  Calvess’ former partner, Henry Oak (Ray Liotta), a hotheaded rule-breaker from the old school, is brought in to assist.  But Tellis sniffs out a conspiracy that runs deeper than the streets, pursuing angles and interviewing suspects that pushes Oaks’ buttons.  The question of who was behind Calvess’ death becomes a personal matter for them both…but which side is Oaks really on? 

 

Essentially the last film of note for actor Jason Patric, his world-weary demeanor and bedraggled appearance works well here, especially set against Liotta’s typically unhinged outbursts.  Both actors provide depth to dialogue that would sound like a particularly edgy episode of Blue Bloods coming from anyone else.  But the audience is cued into Oaks guilt from the very beginning, so all of the film’s narrative contortions seem wildly unnecessary; it’s only a matter of how the final scene will play out.

 

Not that Carnahan – a Michigan native – doesn’t make it look good along the way.  Poor Detroit is always portrayed as 5-square miles of snowy squalor, but it works for the mood here, contrasted with pops of red, green and blues during the action interiors.  The opening chase sequence is off the blocks fast, delivering a visceral gut punch before we even know what’s going on.  But as the story plays out, we’re stuck with the usual angry wife scenario, powerless police captain and Goodfellas-style explosions of violence.  But, hey, nobody can deliver a good “Shut the fuck up!” better than the late Ray Liotta.  And he’s gangbusters here.

 

Narc might seem like a surprising choice for a 4K UHD upgrade but the HDR on Arrow’s new limited-edition – minted from a new 4K remaster - is demo material that will really knock-your-socks-off.  There’s a Blu-ray included as well along with newly filmed interviews from Carnahan, DP Alex Nepomniaschy, actor Krista Bridges and costume designer Gersha Phillips.  Several other archival featurettes tacked on to go with an exclusive reversible sleeve, double-sided poster and collector’s booklet.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tormented

Image
The west coast always struggled to create a creepy atmosphere on screen.  All that southern California sunshine just doesn’t lend itself to ghostly apparitions or gothic castles.  But  Tormented  (1960) gives it a good try, staging its opening scene in an abandoned lighthouse where blackmail turns into murder - and one cover up leads to another.  Director Bert I. Gordon, better known for his giant-sized - but low-budget - monster movies, works well at this level, turning in a film that delivers small scares but perhaps his most  professional finished product. Tom Stewart (played by genre regular Richard Carlson) is a fairly successful jazz pianist whose impending marriage to Meg Hubbard (Susan Gordon) will put him in an entirely new tax bracket.  Trouble is his old flame, Vi (Juli Reding), isn’t taking this lying down.  After  allowing  her to fall to her death in the opening scene, Tom is haunted by disembo...
Read more

All Ladies Do It / Frivolous Lola

Image
Every semi-professional review of erotica probably starts off with the same question:  what’s the difference between porn and art?  The internet age has essentially done away with foreplay; sex is merely the act of completion itself, minus the threat of any malware or suspicious browser activity.  But the work of Italian director Tinto Brass, for all its leering upskirt shots of derrieres and pubic hair, still communicates something that websites like Pornhub never will:  the art of seduction.  All Ladies Do It  (1992), a breezy sexual adventure, follows Diana (Claudia Koll) whose marriage is threatened by her fantasies of dalliances with other men, stories her husband believes are nothing more than exciting role play.  But her loose definition of adultery inspires plenty of promiscuous hook-ups, taking advantage of any (ahem)  loophole  that provides a quick thrill.   Flirting with some hardcore sequences (there...
Read more

The Cat and the Canary

Image
My favorite directors have always been showoffs:  Hitchcock, DePalma, Spielberg (when he’s feeling frisky) and gonzo auteurs like Sam Raimi.  There’s just something about their cinematic ambition, constantly reminding the audience that, yes, there actually  is  someone behind the camera calling the shots.  And that directorial discontent shines through even in the early days of the medium, such as Paul Leni’s 1927 adaptation of  The Cat and the Canary .  While the rest of the industry was still learning the basics of visual language, Leni fills his frame with tracking shots, POVs and dramatic lighting that set the standard for every spook show to come!  Gathered for the reading of the last will and testament of eccentric recluse Cyrus West,  the potential heirs meet up in his decrepit mansion to discover who will inherit the estate and family jewels.  Predictably there is some petty jealousy when young Annab...
Read more