Narc: Shooting Up (2003) (V)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot:

The major elements of making the film Narc (2002) are explored here through interviews with some of the cast and crew. The issues concerning families are briefly explained as well as the ongoing problem with funding the picture. |

Cast

Paula Wagner	...	Herself - Executive Producer
Joe Carnahan	...	Himself - Writer and Director
Ray Liotta	...	Himself - 'Henry Oak' and Producer
Jason Patric	...	Himself - 'Nick Tellis'
Tom Cruise	...	Himself - Executive Producer
Diane Nabatoff	...	Herself - Producer
William Friedkin	...	Himself - Filmmaker

Runtime:

19 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

This making-of is featured on the DVD the film Narc (2002).

Movie Connections:

References The French Connection (1971)

Short but interesting

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This mini documentary looks at the actual shoot that brought Narc to the big screen. Working with budget problems that risked the whole film being shut down and the crew not getting paid, the director and cast talk about the look of the film, the logistics of some shots and the thematic elements of the script.

One of four documentaries on the Narc UK DVD, each lasting about 12 minutes long, this is an interesting piece that may not be as good as a full documentary on the subject but is still interesting. The question I couldn't shake was why they didn't just put all of the shorts together and edit it into an hour long documentary; maybe they thought people get put off by a longer feature and prefer it in smaller chunks.

The most important thing to say about this short film is to stress that it contains major spoilers of both minor plot devices and even the ending, so don't watch this until you've seen the film. The film opens with interesting background to the budget problems when making the film. It tells us how difficult it was but Patric brushes over the fact that lawyers were involved - I would have liked more honesty on this. The film then looks at the themes within the film and I found this to be pretty interesting, adding to what I had gleamed from the film myself. The only downside of this is that, while Carnahan keeps it simple, Patric gets a bit pretentious on us and makes it more complex than it needs to be.

Unlike the first of the documentaries, the clips here are scaled back to a minimum in favour of more screen time for writer/director Carnahan. He is very talkative and very informative and he is enjoyable as the focus of the film.

Overall this is a good documentary that is short but still interesting. It doesn't dig deep enough on any significant subject but it still gives enough information to keep it interesting. Carnahan is energetic and likeable and he drives the short forward by sheer force of personality.