Internal Affairs (1990)

Very well executed

Best movie of this year hands down!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This clever, smart, under-stated story displays much of the style and cinematic genius that director Mike Figgis would show for "Leaving Las Vegas" only 6 years later. The actors are well-cast in their roles and all of them give stellar performances no matter how minor their part. The many gears and wheels that are grinding in this story, of beat cop Dennis Peck (Richard Gere) and his shadow fiefdom of criminals in blue, are mostly just hinted at rather then explained outright. It takes a perceptive viewer to get all the subtle nuances the story constantly is presenting, and to do it in only one viewing ( it took me the second viewing before I got many of them but it was worth it - there's a lot of elements to this story and most of them are interesting). I'm not sure why this movie is rated so low on IMDB, I'm tempted to think that many viewers didn't like seeing Richard Gere as villain; or perhaps it was the great subtlety which the story is told. Even so, this is one movie that no Richard Gere fan should miss - it's one of his strongest, most under-stated performances..

Internal Affairs is a good film. It is from 1990 and is currently available on NetFlix Instant Download Streaming. The director is Mike Figgis and it is written by Henry Bean. The subject here (police corruption) is banal, but it gains extra value and weight by Figgis' atmospheric direction and, especially, by Richard Gere's powerful performance in perhaps his most atypical role (and as far as I know, his only truly villainous one). After watching him in this film, I don't know how some people can still doubt that he's a talented actor as well an attractive star. The rest of the cast is also good. The finale, however, is somewhat disappointing. I gave it 7 stars. Dale Haufrect

Bad cops abound in "Internal Affairs", a pulpy thriller by Mike Figgis. The film stars Andy Garcia as an Internal Affairs agent who locks horns with Richard Gere's Dennis Peck. Peck's a womanizer and crooked cop with much blood on his hands. Garcia tries to take him down."Internal Affairs" is at its best during its early, low key moments. Unfortunately the film quickly goes into over-the-top territory, with ridiculous gun fights and much melodrama. Sidney Lumet's the king of this genre, with films like "Q and A", "Serpico" and "Prince of the City". Figgis can't compete.6/10 – Worth one viewing. See Garcia instead in "Jennifer 8".

I picked up this film in a three DVD pack that included Narc and Serpico (both are better cop films). Andy Garcia plays Raymond Avilla, a young hotshot police officer ambitiously rising through the ranks of the LAPD and working for the Internal Affairs Division. He's investigating Dennis Peck (Richard Gere), a uniformed cop who's used his job to make himself wealthy and provide a lavish lifestyle for his family via different criminal enterprises. Peck is charming and charismatic but also has sociopathic tendencies that allow him to justify his criminal activities. When Peck learns that Avilla is looking into his illicit activities, the story turns into an increasingly violent clash of wills and egos.I wasn't really sure if the audience was supposed to be rooting for Andy Garcia as Avilla since he's come across as arrogant and unlikeable, even violent at times particularly in a scene where he gets into an intense argument with his wife and hits her in a jealous rage. Gere as Peck is a pretty good villain but the things he actually does when actually committing crimes in this are so outrageous it makes one wonder why Internal Affairs has a hard time catching him in the act.