Stop me if you’’ve heard this before. A hard-nosed and diligent cop (Jason Patrick) gets taken off the force after in accident while serving in the field. The bureau brings him back in the help of solving a case collecting cobwebs, the death of an officer undercover. This cop gets teamed up with a hothead (Ray Liotta) who doesn’’t “play by all the rules” who becomes increasingly more suspicious that said hothead breaks more rules than enforces. Oh, and diligent cop’s neglected wife and child incessantly worry over his well being as he becomes consumed by the work. What’s that, you want me to stop? Well okay then.

So what do we get with ‘Narc’? Well, Ray Liotta yells. A lot. He’’ll huff and puff until smoke blows out his ears and veins jump from his neck. Liotta eats scenery uncontrollably like Marlon Brando left alone at the Cheesecake Factory.

Narc’ attempts to tell a gritty police drama in the same manner of ‘The French Connection’ but, instead, turns into every other “gritty” cop movie. The twists (I use this word lightly because every turn is easily telegraphed) do nothing to liven up this rote rogue copper flick. Let’’s face it, every cop drama is plot driven, even the classics like ‘L.A. Confidential’ and ‘The French Connection’. So if you don’’t have a good story then there’s no gas in this car. And ‘Narc’ barely runs on fumes.

Writer/director Joe Carnahan tries to play window dressing with some superfluous camera tricks in an attempt to jazz up the proceedings. The opening handheld chase scene could give the makers of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ motion sickness. The editing can at times simulate an annoying fly buzzing around your ear. The result of these tricks is like covering a turd with chocolate and selling it to the masses.

Narc’ won’’t quicken any pulses or knock any socks out of their vicinity. So what will you get? Well Ray Liotta yelling at you, which, surprisingly, could lead to audience narc-olepsy. Even that horrible pun is better than watching the film. I think that says it all.

Nate’s Grade: C