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Narc
Paramount Pictures


8.0

based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 9 votes
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Rate this movie

FILM:

Smokin' Aces

MPAA RATING: R for strong brutal violence, drug content and pervasive language

Starring Ray Liotta, Jason Patric, Chi McBride, Busta Rhymes, Anne Openshaw, Richard Chevolleau, and John Ortiz

A fast-paced, hard-boiled tale of cops and scandal, drugs and deception.

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Joe Carnahan
DIRECTED BY:	Joe Carnahan
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 17, 2003 Video: June 17, 2003 Theatrical: December 20, 2002
RUNNING TIME:	102 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Carnahan alternates gritty neo-realism with bursts of extreme stylization -- most notably in a breathless opening chase filmed with handheld cameras -- but thankfully, his stylistic flourishes are in the service of the film's story, not the other way around.

The New Yorker David Denby

A blood-soaked, hellish experience -- a midnight special for lovers of a violent genre -- yet it has been made with a mixture of ferocity and sweetness which leaves one exhausted but at peace. [27 January 2003, p. 94]

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Fresh and raw like a blown-out vein, Narc takes a walking-dead, cop-flick subgenre and beats new life into it.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Narc is as cop movie as a cop movie can be.

Film Threat Ron Wells

Patric and Liotta are as tense and great as they've ever been.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

As a director Carnahan definitely has the goods: the opening foot chase, a sequence that's been done to death, is genuinely terrifying.

Film Threat K.J. Doughton

It joins “Rush,” “The Onion Field,” “Serpico,” “Seven,” “The French Connection,” Traffic, and “Prince of the City” as a grimy, hyper-real exploration of the emotional and psychological prices paid by cops.

Variety David Rooney

A darkly textured, powerfully suspenseful genre piece.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Narc is convincing, an entertaining, grimy view of the traps of machismo tucked inside a cop thriller.

LA Weekly Dan Fienberg

Taut and well-acted, faltering only when the filmmaker loses faith in the power of his story.

USA Today Mike Clark

This may be the most uncompromisingly raw police drama since "Across 110th Street," starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

With such skilled filmmaking and committed acting on display, Narc is far more a score than a bust.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Without a hint of regret, the filmmaker freely borrows from such diverse sources as Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone, and the TV program "C.S.I."

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A no-bull throwback to 1970s action films. It zips along with B-movie verve while adding the rich details and go-for-broke acting that heralds something special.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

It's a cop movie that refuses to cop out in the usual way.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Patric and Liotta get the chance to do some heavy riffing on themes of honor, sacrifice, selling out and self-destructing, and the bleak, smeared world of drugs and violence is brought to the fore with feverish style.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The investigation itself must remain undescribed here. But its ending is a neat and ironic exercise in poetic justice.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

An unusually vicious and unforgiving study of police corruption, Narc is a stylistic throwback to such classic 1970s cop dramas as "The French Connection" and "Serpico," with a 21st century helping of the old ultra-violence.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Makes "Training Day" -- which was admittedly pretty tough -- seem like a Disney cartoon by comparison.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

What could have been a run-of-the- mill story becomes a superb policier in the hands of writerdirector Joe Carnahan.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Familiar story, electrifying execution.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Hardly a scene goes by without a digitally fractured flashback or spasm of editing punctuation, rupturing the movie's otherwise carefully wrought sense of authenticity.

Salon.com Jeff Stark

The direction of Joe Carnahan, who also wrote the script, is stylish without being overbearing, the actors look comfortable in their roles and the modest twists unfold at a pace that doesn't seem ridiculous. The film would probably make a good episode of "Homicide: Life on the Streets."

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

It's a stunner that sadly grows tiresome at the end.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

This is a stirring movie, if relentless intensity, handheld camera work, cover-your-eyes violence and ear-splitting yelling matches are what you're craving.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

As the most diabolically focused and politically incorrect cop this side of Popeye Doyle, Liotta is a hot prospect for this year's supporting-actor Oscar.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Beneath its frantic surfaces, Narc is terribly ordinary, built on a mystery that will puzzle only those who have never watched a TV cop drama.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Some might find the whole thing exhilarating, but exhausting is more the word that comes to this man's mind.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Frustratingly, Carnahan barely trusts his storytelling to keep our attention long enough to get through a scene without some grisly cutaway -- a gun to the head, the writhing wounded.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Ray Liotta and Jason Patric do some of their best work in their underwritten roles, but don't be fooled: Nobody deserves any prizes here.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Authenticity and plausibility get gunned down from the get-go, but if explosive shaky-cam ultraviolence and frequent extreme close-ups of greasy whiskers are your bag, this hyperactive wannabe may count as something of a score.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

To transcend cliché, movies like Narc need the passion of a heretic who can take stock characters with their stock predicaments and turn them inside out, the way Curtis Hanson and Quentin Tarantino do. Blood, guts and flash aren't enough.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Liotta's acting can't redeem senseless violence.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The movie is designed to show off Liotta's acting skills, but pointless mayhem and sheer nastiness crowd out any virtues it might have had.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

J Bridge gave it a9:
I don't understand what this deal is with people vomiting over the violence in this movie. The violence is in this movie to add reality. It was by no means over the top. At all. The movie was very well acted and the plot kept me very interested. What I loved most was that I had Liotta pegged for the murder from the beginning, and I was so surprised at the end. The revelation was actually a REVELATION.

Michael M. gave it a 9:
This film is quite possibly the best cop movie ever made! Flawed at some parts, but still a pulse raising thriller. Jason Patric stars as a police detective married with one infant. After accidently shooting a pregnant civilian while trying to catch an insane drug dealer injecting various people with cyanide, he is assigned to work with Lt. Henry Oaks (Ray Liotta - as a angry, ill-tempered, and anything but by-the-book cop, who uses extreme violence towards hardened criminals. Jason Patric and Ray Liotta's job is to help solve the case of the murder of cop Michael Calvese (Ray Liotta's ex-partner), and catch the person who killed him. Ray Liotta wants to kill the cop killer, and Jason Patric wants to book him. I would highly reccomend this feature to anyone looking for high-rate suspense in the movie theater. Hands down Ray Liotta's best performance! He should have received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for this. (1/30/03)

Akhil K. gave it a 10:
I dont believe it. The best cop movie ever, if not the best thriller. As far as the violence, it is isn't really close to some of the movies i've seen. Compare this with Black Hawk Down or even Bad Boys II, it is isnt overly gruesome. Sure the former is a war movie and the latter was "comedy". But at its peaks (which was not surprisingly, the beginning and the end), it clearly deserves an Oscar. Which is what i would have given it.

Josh V. gave it a 10:
This movie is everything great movies should be: Epic, Emotional and above all, thoroughly original. Haven't seen one like this in quite a while.

Marc-o gave it an 8:
For a film noted for its violence i felt that although graphic it was quite well restrained as well as shocking. Both Liotta and Patrick were subtle in there roles as very troubled men in scenes that could so easily have been overacted. This was a movie of contrast both characters fundamentally good but whoose flaws seem to be eating them from the inside out. Overall a dark little number that proves that sometimes a smaller budget can enhance a movie as visual effects take a back seat to inventive camera work and actors acting as apposed to reacting to whatever the director throws at them.

Mr. D. gave it an 8:
It was and all-round excellent movie.

Matthieu C. gave it a 2:
Gruesome violence. Most part of the film are focus on cinematography and bloods and guts and bullets... The acting occupy second role, and the script...letting us down... is far behind the movie.

Narc Paramount Pictures

Narc
Paramount Pictures