NARC —*** — Jason Patric, Ray Liotta, Chi McBride, Busta Rhymes, Anne Openshaw, Richard Chevolleau, John Ortiz, Alan Van Sprang; rated R (violence, profanity, drug use, gore, vulgarity, brief nudity, brief sex, torture, racial epithets).

A few artsy flourishes aside, "Narc" is as gritty as a movie gets these days. In fact, this cop thriller is so unrelentingly grim, gritty and grimy that it recalls many like-minded thrillers released during the '70s — a period considered to be a renaissance of sorts for filmmaking.

Which is not to say that this one comes close to matching the standard of excellence set by such classics as "The French Connection" and "Serpico." "Narc" has some fairly serious third-act problems that mute the overall effect.

Yet, when compared to the timid — or worse, terribly derivative — films that pass for crime thrillers these days, "Narc" seems refreshing and different, as if it's the first step in an industrywide revival of the genre.

The film's title refers to Nick Tellis (a beefed-up Jason Patric), a Detroit detective on suspension after an accidental shooting during a drug bust that went awry. But Nick is given a second chance by his superiors, who assign him to the murder of a well-regarded cop — another undercover narcotics officer who may have been killed during a stakeout.

Nick is supposed to be going it alone but instead finds himself teamed up with veteran detective Henry Oak (an even-more-beefed-up Ray Liotta), who just happens to have been the dead man's investigative partner. Not too surprisingly, the two men don't get along — especially when Nick starts uncovering other outside evidence that calls into question Oaks' investigational skills, as well as his character.

At times, writer/director Joe Carnahan (1998's "Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane") does show some irritating "modern" tendencies — the early part of the film is a little heavy on handheld camera work. But his screenplay is a terrific two-character study, and thankfully, both actors give the material their all.

Patric smolders as the cop with principles, while Liotta really sinks his teeth into the showier part as a cop on the edge. While the latter is probably the stronger performance of the two, Patric is nicely understated.

"Narc" is rated R for graphic scenes of violence (beatings and gunplay), frequent use of strong sex-related profanity, simulated drug use (cocaine and heroin, some injected), gore, use of crude sexual slang terms and racial epithets, brief male nudity, a brief sex scene and a scene of torture. Running time: 102 minutes.

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