i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

A different way of telling a story

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Raymond Avila (Andy Garcia) works for the Internal Affairs Department with his partner Amy Wallace (Laurie Metcalf). Dennis Peck (Richard Gere) is a police officer who peaks Avila and Wallace's interest when they discover that the lifestyle & money that he has acquired does not seem consistent with those of a regular police officer. Avila and Wallace begin investigating Peck, but Peck is more dangerous than they both envisaged and both Avila and Wallace soon find themselves on a dangerous collision course with Peck.I'm really not sure what director Mike Figgis was doing here, but for the most part Internal Affairs was neither thrilling nor particularly dramatic. I understand that certain films will have a slow-burn approach (which I presume is the approach used by Figgis), but nothing particularly interesting happens. Figgis seems to be content with characters chatting to each other including a couple of rather flat exchanges between Gere and Garcia but that's about all he can seem to muster. Avila and Wallace are supposed to be investigating Peck but it never really feels like much of an investigation to me and for that reason the story unfolds without much tension or intensity. The main problem with this film is that there is no excitement, no spark, and no memorable scenes or dialogue and as a result of all of these things I found the story boring and uninteresting.Oddly though this sort of changed at about the 80 minute mark - the film suddenly kicks into life and it almost felt like Figgis' had suddenly woke up and thought 'S**t I'm supposed to be making a crime thriller here'. There was some intensity in the last 30 minutes which at least made the race to the finish line that little bit more bearable.The cast were another problem here with both Garcia and Gere being in sleep mode here - although strangely enough they both seemed to wake up at about the 80 minute mark as well. Gere is OK throughout the film, but Garcia has never been an actor that I've been able to take to. He only seems to be able to do either quiet and restrained OR all out yelling and overacting - there is a middle ground in between that Garcia never seems to be able to find. The ending is predictable and the story throws up no real surprises along the way.There's nothing really wrong with the script, but this film really needed a director at the helm who understands the genre. Figgis is out of his depth here and pretty much wastes all of the potential on offer by having nearly all of the cast standing round doing nothing. With a more competent director this probably would have been watchable, but as it is it's a bit of a yawner.

Audiences are used to seeing Richard Gere as the likable, womanising, good looking pretty boy on screen. Look no further than such movies as An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and Pretty Woman (1990) and these are the few movies that Richard Gere has built his career on. Internal Affairs is a totally different movie for him in which he does a 180 and portrays a very unlikeable villain.Richard Gere is Officer Dennis Peck, a morally corrupt patrol officer who is not above roughing up suspects, planting evidence, intimidating others, using other police officers as pawns in his own games, and a womaniser who often cheats on his wife. Despite his immoral and selfish behaviour he is seen by other officers as a role model of the Los Angeles Police Department and is also a very caring father. Andy Garcia is Raymond Avila, a newly transferred detective who has been assigned to Internal Affairs Division. Raymond Avila has been assigned to work with fellow Internal Affairs Detective Amy Wallace played by Laurie Metcalf. Initially, Detectives Avila and Wallace assigned to investigate Officer Van Stretch (William Baldwin) for several misconduct allegations including excessive force, substance abuse problems, and racist behaviour. A further investigation reveals Van Stretch has been behaving erratically and is abusive towards his wife Penny (Faye Grant) as well as raising suspicions in his financial statements. Avila also finds an ally in fellow police officer Dorian Fletcher (Michael Beach) who has expressed questions about Peck's behaviour and conduct. When Peck makes insinuations about making sexual advances towards Raymond's wife Kathleen (Nancy Travis), Raymond punches Peck to the ground. This also arouses further suspicions that Peck is having an affair with Kathleen which results in a further mind games between Peck and Raymond and a confrontation between Raymond and Kathleen occurs in a crowded restaurant. As the net closes in, the game continues with Dennis Peck throwing his weight around and going so far as to committing murder, including putting other police officer's lives in danger and other people he has been secretly dealing with. Raymond Avila is determined to nail Dennis Peck once and for all.I thought this was Richard Gere's best role as the corrupt police officer Dennis Peck. Peck is not just any kind of villain, but a sleazy, smooth talking, womanising, manipulating, deceitful and a very unlikeable person you will love to hate. And he does this while hiding behind his police uniform and charming charisma. Peck is a villain that the audiences want to see get his comeuppance. You can add Richard Gere to a long list of actors who are normally well known to play good guys that rarely play the villain. You have Brad Pitt in Kalifornia (1993), Tom Cruise in Interview with the Vampire (1994) and Collateral (2004), Bruce Willis in The Jackal (1997), John Travolta in Broken Arrow (1996) and Swordfish (2001), Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast (2001), Denzel Washington in Training Day (2001), Matt Damon in The Departed (2006), and Robert Redford in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). Andy Garcia was top notch as the clean cut but intense Raymond Avila, a newly transferred Internal Affairs detective very eager to make a great impression. Laurie Metcalf who is known for her comedic roles including TV show Roseanne was great as Raymond's partner Amy Wallace. William Baldwin who later establishes himself in the early 90's as leading man material in Flatliners (1990), Backdraft (1991) and Sliver (1993) did a good job as the damaged police officer Van Stretch who is also Peck's partner. Other supporting cast members including Nancy Travis as Raymond's wife Kathleen and Michael Beach as Officer Dorian Fletcher round out the cast.Internal Affairs is a quality thriller that builds very slowly and then traps the viewer in a psychological maze of cat and mouse which doesn't let up until the very end of the movie. Internal Affairs is quite an underrated thriller than is still very enjoyable years later.8/10.

Right before Pretty Woman (1990), Gere played smarmy, womanizing, multi-divorced, prick LA street cop, Dennis Peck, taking money from the likes of pimps and drug-dealers in order to provide for his four wives and nine (!) kids. Peck likes to spread the seed around. He's in for a rude awakening when young Hispanic Internal Affairs agent, Raymond Avilla (Andy Garcia) investigates Peck's partner, Van Stretch (William Baldwyn), prone to violent outbursts and other criminal activities. Avilla wants Peck and hopes to get Van to turn on him. Peck not only takes money for prostitution and drugs but also negotiates executions, as is the case with a businessman's parents! Peck isn't about to not only take money and arrange gangbangers to execute the businessman's parents but feels free to bang the guy's wife as well! When Peck realizes the threat to his livelihood, he makes it a mission to torment Avilla, provoking his jealousy in regards to a wife (a smokin' Nancy Travis; I'm telling you, Travis has never been this foxy!) needing some lovin' (knowing Peck's reputation as a womanizer, Avilla does feel a sense of uncertainty because his overworking nature to find evidence against the smart-aleck, no-good cop leaves little time for a wife wanting affection and attention from her husband) and removing anyone that might point a finger at his direction. Considering the possible notoriety behind the scenes between Gere and Garcia's inability to get along, their time on screen benefits significantly from the intensity, animosity, and hostility shared between the two characters, Peck and Avilla. Gere fires on all cylinders in this performance, full of swagger and aggression, with a character that would easily dupe you into believing he's on your side, while all the while setting up your execution. Seemingly no conscience (except when with his children) or compassion exists in this man, and Peck has built enough bad juju for punishment to visit upon him with violent and swift justice. I like how the film establishes that Avilla's obsessions (like getting a cop associated with Peck, Dorian (Michael Beach), on Homicide) are turning him into Peck. There's a really volatile scene where Avilla confronts his wife in a restaurant about her possible involvement with Peck that registers off-the-charts; Avilla even smacks her upside the jaw, dropping panties, stolen by Peck from her room, at her face! Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne; The Big Bang Theory) has a nifty supporting part as Avilla's lesbian partner, Amy Wallace. Where Internal Affairs feels conventional is in the partner getting hurt and the wife being threatened by the villain. The inevitable showdown doesn't quite match the earlier macho exchanges, eliciting plenty of fireworks, between the opposing cops. Gere dominates his scenes—every last one of them—while Garcia can stare down those associates of Avilla with a moral compass blazing a trail from his eyes that leaves them really uncomfortable and on edge (a great example is the wife of Van, played by Faye Grant, who has a disdain for the IA but cannot look Avilla in the eyes; she had been screwing around with Peck behind Van's back). Annabella Sciorra has limited involvement in the film as Peck's newest wife, eventually helping Avilla take down her sleazy husband (it was either her children or Peck, with few options available to her, as Avilla forces her hand). Baldwin's demise thanks to Gere is hard to watch because it is coming and Van doesn't have a clue he's about to take a shotgun blast to the chest. Not quite dying, Peck assists with a choke hold strangling the remaining life from him. This, along with the discovery of the parents under the giant Hollywood sign, just illustrates fully how evil he really is. He, at the end, uses his children's welfare as an excuse for all of his activities; Gere's whole purpose is to make us despise his character and in that he succeeds.

On the face of it, "Internal Affairs" is a routine crime drama about an investigation into the activities of an LAPD cop who's suspected of being corrupt. What elevates this movie to another level, however, is a sensational performance by Richard Gere as an extremely memorable villain who's not only corrupt, cruel and complex but also extremely manipulative and murderous.Dennis Peck (Richard Gere) is a street cop who's popular and respected by his superiors. He's a married man with three ex-wives and 8 kids and enjoys good relationships with all of them. Over the years he's been helpful to many of his fellow officers and his ability to call in favours from them whenever needed has provided him with a power-base which he effectively used to operate his criminal activities.Peck comes to the attention of a newly appointed LAPD Internal Affairs investigator called Raymond Avila (Andy Garcia), after the conduct of his partner Van Stretch (William Baldwin) gives cause for concern. Avila and another investigator called Amy Wallace (Laurie Metcalf) interview the young cop and it quickly becomes clear that he's a drug addicted racist who's prone to outbursts of unprovoked violence. Subsequent checks into Stretch's financial status and Peck's extra curricular activities then start to raise certain suspicions.A short time later, Stretch is killed on duty and the body of his killer is found nearby. Peck explains that he shot the murderer but doesn't disclose that the killer was actually a hit-man employed by him. Avila suspects this and soon elicits the confirmation he needs from one of the hit-man's associates before going on to discreetly keep Peck under surveillance.Peck is adept at identifying people's weaknesses and exploiting them for his own purposes and so arranges a confidential meeting with Avila's neglected wife Kathleen (Nancy Travis). He asks her some questions which he infers he's authorised to do but his real purpose is to unsettle Avila who he knows will see his meeting with Kathleen and become uncontrollably jealous.Peck's plan works well and Avila becomes so unhinged that he embarrasses and beats his wife in public at her workplace. Despite this spectacular loss of control, Avila and Wallace are later able to continue their determined investigation to its conclusion although there is a significant price to be paid for what they achieve.The tense atmosphere which runs through this movie is predominantly generated by its brooding score and the intensity of the conflict between Avila and Peck who are both tough, uncompromising and remarkably similar in certain ways. The threat of extreme violence is also ever present as Stretch and Avila are both volatile men who can't control their tempers and also beat their wives.Avila appears to be cold, confident and conventional when he's first appointed to his new job but as events proceed it becomes clear that he's very ambitious, has problems with his marriage and also has a darker side to his personality which is brought out when Peck pushes the right buttons. Andy Garcia does well as he portrays the range of behaviours of his character who lacks any real warmth or the ability to empathize with others.Peck is a charming psychopath and an inveterate womaniser and Richard Gere's magnificent as he shows brilliantly his ability to be equally convincing whether he's playing the helpful colleague, a calculating manipulator of other people or a vicious killer."Internal Affairs" is ultimately a surprisingly enjoyable movie with some strong characters and an exceptional villain.