Screen Talk: Narc (2002)

Screen Talk

Narc (2002) Dir: Joe Carnahan

I feel Narc is the perfect film to begin Screen Talk. It was an independent thriller that was released in 2002 and went under many film goers radar. The film centres on the character of Nick Tellis (Jason Patric), an undercover narcotics officer who is reassigned, after a traumatic case, onto a mysterious homicide of another undercover officer. As well as reluctantly being reassigned, Nick is partnered with the psychotic detective Henry Oak, performed brilliantly by Ray Liotta.

Narc is a gem of the early 2000s. Joe Carnahan harnesses a dark visual texture to illuminate the street level investigation. As both characters manoeuvre through the streets of Detroit, the film begins to take on a gritty realism akin to the TV show The Wire. Narc’s brutality sends shivers down its viewer’s spines. Both Patric and Liotta dominate the screen with their physical performances - their constant beat downs and altercations intensify as each scene progresses. The beautiful movement of the camera as well as the exceptional use of lighting make Narc a true successor to instrumental crime thrillers such as William Friedkin’s The French Connection.

Narc is a very well made and criminally underrated independent thriller. The performances of Jason Patric and Ray Liotta steal the film as their synergy achieve a depth mainstream thrillers only hope to replicate. Finally, Narc has one of my all-time favourite opening sequences – it is electric, psychedelic and traumatic. The brutal essence that runs through the heart of Narc begins with its extraordinary opening.