Rating:
Genre:
Soundtrack
Release Date: 01/07/2003
Run Time: 42:16
Narc: Music From the Motion Picture collects
Cliff Martinez' score for
Joe Carnahan's cutting-edge police drama along with the
trip-hop group
Baby Namboos'
"Provoked." While
Martinez'
ambient and
industrial-inspired score goes a long way in setting the film's moods -- from the spooky, contemplative title track to the elegiac
"Girl in the Closet," to the taut
"This Is It" -- it doesn't have as much personality as his brilliant scores for
Steven Soderbergh's
Traffic, or (especially) the luminous, bittersweet
Solaris score. That's not to say that
Narc doesn't have its moments for
Martinez fans:
"Kick My Ass in the Morning" and
"You Hit?" cleverly mix
hip hop influences into his modus operandi, while
"I Love You Baby," "Let's Sit On the House," and
"Crime Scene" maintain the score's minimalism but still remain distinctive and melodic. It's just that a fair amount of the music is so sparse, and so tailored to crafting an ambience for the film, that it isn't quite as successful in other settings (though
"Notice Anything Strange?" is an eerily accurate musical portrait of a bleak Detroit winter). Even so,
Martinez' score is immaculately crafted even if it's somewhat less inspired than some of his other work. Fortunately,
"Provoked" shares enough of the shimmering minimalism of
Martinez' music that it doesn't feel out of place.
Tricky's cameo on the track gives it an added depth, recalling his
Nearly God material. Overall,
Narc: Music From the Motion Picture is a contemplative, thought-provoking soundtrack, although it's not totally successful outside of the film's context.
~Heather Phares, All Music Guide
;)
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