Little-known movie 'Narc' deserves attention

In the rush of must-see holiday films, and on top of those the must-see-artsy-academy-vying films, there is a small movie called Narc slated to be released in a few theaters on Dec. 20.

In the face of Lord of the Rings, Chicago, Catch Me If You Can, Gangs of New York and About Schmidt (all films that I hope will be good,) you will probably miss it. Lord knows I would have, if I hadn't been given a free ticket. But before you head off to exams and the dueling films of Leonardo DiCaprio, file this away in your mental rolodex: Narc is a good movie, a very good movie that deserves your attention and your time before it gets swept away under the rug of Hobbits. Believe me, each of those films I listed will still be playing well past January.

Narc is a skillful genre piece that focuses on two men on the less glamorous front lines of the drug war. The film is a more realistic version of Training Day, or perhaps it is a more specific and less preachy version of Traffic. Either way, it is a surprise. The fact that it stars Ray "Anthony Hopkins ate my brains in Hannibal" Liotta and Jason "staring into space" Patric was not a major selling point for me. Nor was I encouraged when I found out the director was Joe Carnahan, responsible for the 1998 cheap indie Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane. That film had a lot of energy and invention for a nothing budget and cast, but it wasn't exactly a display of dramatic skill or screenwriting genius. (The film's major plot twist involved stolen South African blood in a car trunk wired to explode.)

And yet, Carnahan has delivered the best film about the realities of the drug war in America in recent memory. Yes, Traffic caused a large stir, but that was more a film of ideas than people, and I in this case the people are more powerful than the ideas. Both leads turn in their best performances, well, ever.

Liotta is hard-eyed as Lt. Henry Oak, who at first fits the tired mold of a cop who shoots firsts and asks questions later. Patric plays Nick Tellis, who we also quickly pigeon-hole as the policeman who lets the work overwhelm his family life. But these molds fail. Neither man is what they seem. Oak has reasons for being so extreme. In an amazing single shot scene inside a car, he ominously intones, "The day my wife died was the day I became a better cop. I didn't have anything to lose anymore." Patric's Tellis appears more haunted, a man whose illusions are constantly shattered but can't quite believe what's in front of him.

Both are driven by a desire for truth where their superiors would gloss over. They are made partners (against their will, of course) on the case of a murdered undercover agent. All that is known for sure is that the man died in a tunnel, two known drug dealers fled the scene and Lt. Oak found the body. Tellis wants to find out who is responsible. Oak wants justice. Sometimes they are working for the same thing, sometimes they are not.

And while the trailer may promise, "a world where nothing is what it seems," here is a film where the plot twists feel more organic than pulp fiction. There are some rather long leaps in logic, and some connections that feel a bit too tidy. It's a sad but true convention of filmmaking that there is no such thing as an unimportant character in a thriller: every random acquaintance must hold a piece to the puzzle, and in the case of Narc some of the most random people the men stumble across have unlikely connections to the murdered man.

Nevertheless, what we have here is a superbly crafted film that walks, talks and breathes with a kind of grittiness that feels closer to reality then most recent cop dramas. While the film does not take a specific stance on drugs themselves, it is careful to point out that many of the people who deal are not the nicest people. They are strung out, short-tempered, sad individuals who feel like a cheap gun is the only way to assert their power. Yet, the same could be said for many of the boys in blue that Oak and Tellis run into, and maybe of Oak themselves.

Narc will probably only be playing at artsy theater number four near you while you're home for the holidays. But if you're tired of the sticky-sweet feel good releases, or just want to see a damn good movie, Narc is your ticket. It is not only the best performance Ray Liotta has ever given; it is a promising sophomore effort by a director who knows how to make a good flick.