Narc

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.