By Sean Tuohy
This week, "Gone Girl" will be hitting theaters across the country. The film, based off the best-selling novel written by Gillian Flynn, is being set up as the next American classic. Great cast, great source material, and a great director behind the camera all should add up to a great flick.
"Narc" is another classic that was sadly over looked. Filmed on a shoestring budget by a director that had only one other film under his belt (a self-financed action thriller that never saw the light of day), "Narc" hit the American landscape in 2002 and was praised for its gritty style and teeth-shattering truth. The film follows two Detroit detectives, both with shady pasts, as they try to solve the murder of an undercover cop. Since then, Joe Carnahan has gone on to become one of Hollywood's most sought after directors. The fact that "Narc" is an afterthought is awful because the movie is incredible. From the opening scene, it hits every beat just right and keeps you pulled in. The writing is strong, the characters are layered, and the scenes well shot.
With that in mind, here are the four best scenes that showcase why "Narc" is a true American classic.
1. Opening Scene
Holy. Mother. Of. God. That opening scene grabs you like a coked out Brazilian boxer and pulls you in for a ride. A tweaked out undercover cop chases a junkie through the city and into the park. The junkie is stabbing people. The cop is out of breath and barely able to keep up. There's no underlying soundtrack either. Just the sound of cop's heavy panting. Then the scene sends with a dead junkie, a bleeding mother, and a cop crying.
Jeez!
2. Ray Liotta
We love Ray from "Goodfellas," where he was the loveable gangster with some awful friends. He was far from loveable as Detective Oaks in this movie. Liotta took the inner city cop with a short temper to a another level. For one thing, he is massive (he ate Chinese food before takes to look more puffy) and scary. One stare from this guy makes you find another pair of underwear. You are never sure what is going to make him snap. The scene below showcases his talent. The fact that Liotta didn't get an Oscar for this one scene is awful.
3. The Ruiz Scene
This scene had to been taken from a lost episode of "Cops" because it bleeds crazy reality. While searching for leads the two cops stumble open a crackhead who has recently set his girlfriend's head on fire because she has given an STD. Standing in a room without pants dealing with withdrawals, the crackhead promises to give the cops info as long as he can get high one last time.
What the hell?! You never scene like that in a movie. Ever!
John Ortiz gives a stellar cameo as the crackhead Ruiz. It was so good that until I saw Miami Vice several years later I thought he was a real crackhead.
4. The Bathroom Scene
Jason Patric's character, Nick Tellis, does not have an easy journey in this film. A cop with a former drug problem who wants to be a good family man and work at a desk gets dragged back into the streets and finds his addiction for police work puts his family life at risk. As Tellis falls deeper into the hole that is police work, his wife, who painfully watched him go through rehab, pulls away.
It reaches a boiling after Tellis is shot and refuses to give up on his case. His wife, child in hand, pleads for his husband to his job to be with her. He says no. His wife leaves.
Holy crap is this heart breaking. Try not to cry as you watch his woman plead with her husband.