Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Film
Review: For those of you who enjoy dark crime & cop stories, this one is a must own. There are some scenes that are difficult to watch as the violence is uncensored. On the whole, I was riveted by this film. Ray Liotta turns in probably the best performance of his career better even than his go in Good Fella's in my opinion. Jason Patrick is also a very talented actor that adds significantly to the story. The direction is non traditional, and the set design and coloring is dark and slightly haunting. The action and dialogue are non stop from the very opening frame which will immediately grab you and not let go until the film is over. It's not for everyone due to the violent nature of the subject matter, there are a few scenes that are definitely hard to watch for that reason. But if you don't mind this or can get past it, and you enjoy gritty, dark, and haunting crime stories with outstanding acting then you'll enjoy this.
Rating: 
Summary: Shades of Gray
Review: Narc is a very decent first outing for its director, although some of the camerawork could possibly induce as much nausea as the Blair Witch Project did for some people. The filmmakers tailored the film to match the color scheme and feel of The French Connection and Serpico. For its writing and directing, it's about a three star film, not bad by any means, but not as superb as the films it emulates. However, there are two reasons to make this film a must see (and these set Narc higher than the traditional three-star rating): Ray Liotta and Jason Patric. Jason Patric plays an undercover vice cop who's been put out to pasture for an accidental wounding he caused. He has pretty much become a stay-at-home dad by the time he is asked to come back on assignment to help solve a murder of a fellow undercover vice cop. The tensions between his wife and his job build significantly throughout the film, particularly after Patric meets and teams up with Ray Liotta's Henry Oak character. Like the last name suggests, Oak is a big solid heavy hitting cop, and in the great tradition of crooked cop movies, there's something just not right about him. Nevertheless as we join the two cops on the quest to solve the murder, Liotta's character fiendishly oozes charisma (If only people had the same drive Oak's character has to channel through more creative and less brutal outlets!). As the director Joe Carnahan commented in the 'making of' featurettes, there is a Dante-esque feel that the two cops are descending further and further into Hell, and their facades become more and more stripped away, revealing Oak to be some sort of a madman. As is to be expected, there is a radical twist in the last few minutes of the film, that you may or may not see coming. Nevertheless, it illustrates much like Kurosawa's Rashomon, that what you think you saw isn't always what happened--and yet each viewpoint contains a grain of truth. To sum up: There's a good story line that almost, but not quite, outstays its welcome, solid gritty directing, and two incredibly good performances from Ray Liotta and Jason Patric. If you see this movie for any reason, make it for the performances of the two disparate leading actors.
Rating: 
Summary: Muddled, Convoluted and Boring...
Review: Narc could have been so much more of a movie. But, in the end it's a film that could never find it's true identity. The plot centers around the murder of a Detroit undercover narcotics officer during a drug buy gone bad. Ray Liotta plays Lt. Oak, a surly, grizzled veteran who was the deceased's partner. Oak is almost an identical version of Russell Crowe in LA Confidential. He loves to scrap with perps and is most concerned with "justice" being served. Jason Patric plays Nick Tellis who was a narc until he accidentally shot a preganant woman during a drug bust. This is Tellis' last shot at returning to the force with honor. So, Liotta and Patrick hook-up to solve the murder of Lt. Oak's partner. The results are less than thrilling, in fact this film moves so slow that it felt like I was growing moss underneath me. Patrick gives a decent performance but he's done this bit before and done it better (See Rush). Liotta is adequate as Oak but he just doesn't come off as believable in this role. The end is a bit of a surprise and very unsettling but it's not enough to make up for an hour and change of substandard writing. Not Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good Story - Bad Directing
Review: It really is a shame, this has a really good story line. I think the director took alot away from the story, way over directed, should have left the movie roll on its own. Some of the camera scenes added were just there for effect, took from a very good story line.
Rating:
Summary: Intense
Review: Gritty, graining film. Intense, eye-popping cinematography. In your face acting from two of the finest actors on the planet. The grittiest, honest cop movie ever! You can't afford not to have this DVD in your collection
Rating:
Summary: NARC IS ADDICTIVE...
Review: THIS FLICK COMES OUT OF THE CHUTE BUCKING WILDLY AND IMMEDIATELY GRABS YOUR ATTENTION. IT WORKS WELL AT SHOWING HOW FAST AND HORRIFIC VIOLENT CONFRONTATIONS CAN BE. IN THAT RESPECT IT MAY WELL BE THE MOST REALISTIC FILM OF ITS KIND TO DATE. FOR FOLKS WHO ARENT 'COPS' BUT QUICK TO SECOND GUESS THEM, THIS PICTURE SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING SO TO SPEAK. IT IS DRAMATIC BUT GENUINELY EARTHY. THIS ONE TAKES YOU ON A PANORAMIC, MULTI FACTED, MERRY GO ROUND LEAVING YOU WONDERING "WHO WERE THE GOOD GUYS, AND WHO WERE THE BAD?" DONT DRAW ANY QUICK CONCLUSIONS WHEN WATCHING THIS ONE. IT IS A TRUE 'MYSTERY' AMONG OTHER THINGS. THE CHARACTERS ARE WELL RESEARCHED AND ACTED. THERE ARE A FEW
TECHNICAL ASPECTS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN REVIEWED AND EDITED. BUT ALL THINGS CONSIDERED 'NARC' COMES OFF CLEAN. THE STORY AND DYNAMIC CHARACTERS DEFINITELY KEEP YOU INTERESTED
AND MUCH LIKE A 'NARC'-OTIC THIS FILM WILL LEAVE YOU ELATED AND WANTING TO SEE IT AGAIN TO GET YOUR 'QUICK FIX.' LIOTTA SHOWS HIS RANGE AND EXPERTISE AT BEING A GREAT CHARACTER ACTOR.
HE IS INTENSE IN DRIVING HIS 'OVER THE TOP' DETECTIVE TO THE BRINK AND BEYOND. AND PATRIC IS A TALENT THAT HASNT BEEN CAST AS MUCH AS HIS ABILITY SHOULD DICTATE. THIS IS A WELL DIRECTED, REALISTIC FILM THAT DESERVES TOP HONORS FOR ITS GRITTY EFFECTIVENESS.
Rating:
Summary: Overwrought police melodrama
Review: To me, the best movies are those that I can get so involved in that I forget I'm in the theater (or watching my television). With a film like Narc, it's impossible to forget you're watching a very self conscious work of art. Director Joe Carnahan (who also directed Blood, Guts, Bullets & Octane, a rather generic post-Tarantino action flick), along with everyone else in Narc, simply tries too hard to be original, clever and intense. Jason Patric and Ray Liotta play cops Nick Tellis and Henry Oak out to catch the killer of another cop. The film starts out with a long, stylized chase scene that ends with Tellis killing a civilian instead of the criminal he's pursuing. He is compelled to take on the proverbial "one last case" to avoid prosecution. Oak, meanwhile, is a loose cannon who only wants to avenge the murder of his ex-partner. Apart from the overstylized camera work (at one point, as the cops are questioning suspects, the screen is divided into quarters), which makes it very hard to get involved in the movie, the performances are all overwrought. Everyone is always screaming at someone (that is, when they aren't shooting at or beating someone half to death). Ray Liotta's character is too extreme in his anger and brutality to be believable. Narc, I suppose, is meant to portray the violent, often surreal world of the streets, but it ends up leaving viewers confused and detached from the action. Although the story isn't really that complicated --everything hinges on whether certain cops are corrupt or not-- I found Narc difficult to follow in many places. Worse, by the end I didn't really care.
Rating:
Summary: Dark and mysterious
Review: This is Ray Liotta and Jason Patrics' best movies in years. They act their parts wonderfully with the darkness that fits "Narc". This is one of those movies that keeps you thinking about the truth for the whole movie. You think you know what's going on, but you always learn otherwise. That is what makes a great movie. However, "Narc" didn't receive enough recognition, only grossing in the seven-digits dollars. If you're looking for something unique and dark, rent this one. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable and boring
Review: I'm all for "guy movies". As a matter of fact, give me a good western or action-packed drama any day over sappy love stories that are basically rejects from the Lifetime channel (eeeuuuu!) This movie was so incredibly boring from the beginning that it was really hard to get to the chase scenes and the storyline. Ray Liotta (what a hunk!) plays a disturbing role as a cop on a vengence to find the murderer of his partner. Predictable acting. Predictable ending.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I rented this movie after being told that it was like police dramas from the late 1960s and early 1970s, and indeed, Narc borrows heavily from movies like The French Connection and Serpico. Unfortunately, the movie's plot is confusing and, in the end, unsatisfying. There seemed to be something wrong with the audio, and I had to use closed captioning. The cinematography is excellent, but the movie is very disappointing. Ray Liotta seems to have been permanently typecast as a crooked, sociopathic policeman, viz, Unlawful Entry, Copland and now Narc. The movie has a desperately over-the-top quality, almost as though the movie's makers know that there isn't much in the way of a plot or interesting characters to grab the viewer's attention, so they resort to a fair amount of gore to make up for the movie's deficits.
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