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Joe Carnahan’s tale of Officer Nick Tellis’s (played by Jason Patric)
struggle to keep his distance from the dangerous trappings of life
undercover is filled with the fast-paced action and mind-spinning
suspense that you expect from a drug drama. Appropriately titled,
Narc examines the corruption within the ranks of the narcotics department
investigations and questions whether the powers behind the force
are as committed to the boys representing it as the boys are committed
to the force.
Nick Tellis is under pressure. When an innocent pregnant woman
gets shot in the crossfire, Internal Affairs is on his tail questioning
his ability to remain levelheaded while undercover. Meanwhile, his
wife (played by Krista Bridges) at home reminds him that with their
son who is only a toddler, there is too much to lose if he goes
down in the line of fire and it’s past time to take a desk job.
When his superiors bring him in to “consult” on a case, the plot
only thickens. Partnered with Henry Oak (played by Ray Liotta),
the two set out to find who killed Oak’s former partner in the line
of duty. Recognizing how the whole narcotics world changes him,
Tellis’s wife knows this isn’t just a regular “consultation.” As
the story unravels, several scenarios are offered as options as
to what really happened, but the truth is always stranger than fiction.
The best parts of this movie are definitely at the very beginning
and the very end. The pace of the story in the middle just doesn’t
keep up as I found myself creating mental to-do lists and trying
not to doze off. Traffic it is not. Liotta’s portrayal of the embittered
partner of a slain cop and the storyline of the stressed out wife
of a cop who wants nothing more than for her husband to quit the
force are a little to cliché at times. But Carnahan spins a very
good story and if you can hold out until the end, you won’t be disappointed.
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