Internal Affairs - Trau' ihm, er ist ein Cop

I have never quite seen a movie like this before. In it, Richard Gere plays his most sinister role and I think his best character in years. There are many disturbing elements in this film and most of them are perpetrated by Richard Gere's Dennis Peck. He knows how to manipulate people to get what he wants and if that doesn't work he uses other measures.

The story goes like this: Richard Gere plays a cop that everyone owes a favour to. He is everyone's friend and everyone's silent worst enemy. He also lives a little above his income should allow him too and this is why he is being investigated by internal affairs. Enter Andy Garcia as Raymond, in a mesmerizing performance. These two know they are going to square off in the film and Peck has fun tormenting him.

Peck is a charismatic, good looking, wealthy play boy. He knows how to use what he has to his advantage, and that eventually means playing with Raymond's head to make him think that he is sleeping with his wife. Did I mention that he is intuitive? And this is established so brilliantly in one of their first meetings together that it makes you cringe.

Peck introduces himself to Raymond and at first he seems very co-operative assuring Raymond that he realizes Ray has a job to do just like he does. But the conversation takes an abrupt turn when Peck begins to hit too close to home when he begins to question how good Raymond's love life is right now. He knows he spends too much time at the office and that he has a beautiful, young wife that may be neglected. The scene works beautifully and sets up the psychological battle that takes place between the two as the film goes on. The next scene they have with each other is enough to make every man cringe at the cruelty of it.

Internal Affairs is a character study at it's finest. There are few films out there that can compare to this one and that can be attributed to the director, Mike Figgis. He hits every note perfectly and the performances he gets from his cast is such a joy to watch. I am surprised that Andy Garcia hasn't gone on to be bigger than he is because he was outstanding here.

This is an absolute must see for anyone that hasn't had the pleasure of doing so yet. But beware, there are some scenes that will get under your skin, especially if you spend too much time at the office and you have a beautiful woman waiting for you at home. What is she doing right now? Who is she with? Are you paranoid or are your concerns real? This film has fun with that paranoia.

This is sort of a slow starter, but once moving it goes quite nicely. Wouldn't matter anyway, I'm not really that impatient when it comes to a story I want to see.

Figgis, directs this internal-power struggle police story, with a candid view. Mike does a good job of building suspense, then,"BOOM!" It explodes in your face. This was also, between the actors, Garcia,(Raymond Avilla) and Gear's Officer Dennis Peck, an odd but interesting match-up. I think that the perfect cat and mouse game was this stories 'pearl'. These two shined along with others that rounded out the casting. There was a certain hatred between both characters that was just right, for the story-liner. It shows, in the story cops relating to spouses and family in stress produced situations as well as the other civil servants that we don't see on a public basis.

I thought that the way, this was set and brought to a scorching climax was well met by those that saw the movie. I think that Figgis set out and accomplished what he was looking for here. (***) Well Done.

This intelligent and well-directed thriller has some brutal, extremely violent scenes, but what makes you really come closer to the tension created by this original and realistic plot is the psychological confrontation among the two main characters, and Mike Figgis works out on it,settling the battle in the sexual and physical aspects,what is evident in the second meeting of Garcia and Gere:Raymond Avila (Andy Garcia, who develops his role in a silent, but extremely lowering form) is a correct, honest Internal Affairs' agent, and he receives the mission to investigate Dennis Peck (Richard Gere, in what can be easily pointed as his best career's performance), a corrupt,charming and cruel cop who has a lot of ex-wives and sons.The moment in which Peck and Avila are together breaks out an explosive hostility: Peck starts to talk about family, and suddenly touches in a sensitive issue, Avila's wife.Avila doesn't like Peck's provocation, and hits him.The battle is set.This scene is very thrilling and memorable.The sound track and the photography contribute to build a hot and agile rhythm. Internal Affairs is an entertaining and interesting movie, and if you liked Q&A and The French Connection, you will enjoy it!

Dennis Peck is a street cop who seems happy to stay at that level, and yet he spends significantly more money than he makes on his cops' pay. When IA officers investigate Peck's partner Van Stretch for planting drugs on a suspect and using unnecessary force, they decide to look into Peck more. However Peck knows how to exploit weakness in those around him and begins to clear up the loose links around him while pushing all Raymond Avila's buttons.

This was Figgis' first American film and he made an excellent start. The dark plot is pretty simple in terms of beginning, middle, start. What makes it so much more than that is the characters are so well drawn. Peck and Avila both become like each other the more we know about them, their methods, their thoughts and their weaknesses are all similar. It makes it harder to fit everyone into the mould of good guys and bad guys and keeps everything more interesting. The various twists don't always make sense but the film is forceful enough to keep everything moving.

Gere is on best form here, playing a character against type he is the embodiment of corruption, deceit and murder. Garcia is also excellent as Raymond, who blends his actions well from good into bad. Metcalfe is excellent as Garcia's partner who may or may not be motivated by the hatred of Gere's macho personae. It's also good to see Baldwin, Travis and Xander Berkley have good roles.

Overall this is a dark thriller that blends characters into one mess of corruption in the police. It is an excellent film with great characters.

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. (**1/2)