Internal Affairs is a
1990The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
AmericanThe cinema of the United States has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
crimeA crime film, in the most general sense, is a film that involves various aspects crime and the criminal justice system. Stylistically, it can fall under many different genres, most commonly drama, thriller, Mystery film and film noir...
thriller
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
set in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
about the police department's
Internal AffairsInternal affairs may refer to:* Internal affairs of a sovereign state* Internal affairs , a division of a law enforcement agency which investigates cases of lawbreaking by members of that agency...
Division.
Directed by
Mike FiggisMichael "Mike" Figgis is an English film director, writer, and composer.-Personal life:Figgis was born in Carlisle, England and grew up in Africa. Figgis for several years had a relationship with the actress Saffron Burrows and cast her in several films...
, the film stars
Richard GereRichard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, and came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
as Dennis Peck, a suave womanizer, clever manipulator and
crooked copPolice corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits and/or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
who uses his fellow
officersA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
as pawns for his own nefarious purposes while showing a tender side as a devoted father.
Andy GarcíaAndy García is an American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables and When a Man Loves a Woman. More recently, he has starred in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve...
plays Raymond Avilla, the Internal Affairs agent who becomes obsessed with catching Peck when he suspects that Peck is not the
poster boyPoster Boy is a 2004 gay-themed drama film. It toured the gay and lesbian film festival circuit beginning in 2004 before a limited theatrical release in 2006.- Production :Some scenes were shot on campus at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York....
police officer that the precinct has made him out to be.
Tagline: Trust him...
Internal Affairs is a
1990The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
AmericanThe cinema of the United States has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
crimeA crime film, in the most general sense, is a film that involves various aspects crime and the criminal justice system. Stylistically, it can fall under many different genres, most commonly drama, thriller, Mystery film and film noir...
thriller
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
set in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
about the police department's
Internal AffairsInternal affairs may refer to:* Internal affairs of a sovereign state* Internal affairs , a division of a law enforcement agency which investigates cases of lawbreaking by members of that agency...
Division.
Directed by
Mike FiggisMichael "Mike" Figgis is an English film director, writer, and composer.-Personal life:Figgis was born in Carlisle, England and grew up in Africa. Figgis for several years had a relationship with the actress Saffron Burrows and cast her in several films...
, the film stars
Richard GereRichard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, and came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
as Dennis Peck, a suave womanizer, clever manipulator and
crooked copPolice corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits and/or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
who uses his fellow
officersA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
as pawns for his own nefarious purposes while showing a tender side as a devoted father.
Andy GarcíaAndy García is an American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables and When a Man Loves a Woman. More recently, he has starred in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve...
plays Raymond Avilla, the Internal Affairs agent who becomes obsessed with catching Peck when he suspects that Peck is not the
poster boyPoster Boy is a 2004 gay-themed drama film. It toured the gay and lesbian film festival circuit beginning in 2004 before a limited theatrical release in 2006.- Production :Some scenes were shot on campus at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York....
police officer that the precinct has made him out to be.
Tagline: Trust him... he's a cop.
Plot
The movie opens with a night-time drug bust where Patrolmen Dennis Peck (
Richard GereRichard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, and came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
) and Van Stretch (
William BaldwinWilliam Joseph "Billy" Baldwin is an American actor, known for his starring roles in such films as Backdraft and Flatliners .-Early life:...
) are arresting a drug pusher and his girlfriend. The girlfriend resists and Stretch starts assaulting both of them. Meanwhile, Patrolman Dorian Fletcher (
Michael BeachMichael Anthony Beach is an American actor.Beach was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, of Cape Verdean descent. He attended the prestigious Noble & Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts on scholarship from ABC . He was introduced to acting when he was sidelined by a lacrosse injury during high...
) is outside and sees a man running towards him. He orders the man to stop then promptly shoots him. Peck comes outside and discovers that the man had no weapon. Dorian is repentant and apologetic, but Peck proceeds to take a knife out of his boot, clean off his prints, then place it in the dead man's hand, making it look like he was an armed assailant. Dorian tries to stop Peck, but Peck convinces him that cops watch each others backs and that this is the best solution for everyone.
Los Angeles, 7 November 1989
Raymond Avila joins the Internal Affairs Division (IAD) of the
Los Angeles Police DepartmentThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
(LAPD) and is assigned to work with Amy Wallace. They are initially assigned to investigate Van Stretch's activities from the drug-bust. During a mandatory interrogation, it is discovered that Stretch has committed three code 181's for excessive force in less than ten months, has a uncontrollable substance abuse issue, and is a racist officer. After interviewing his wife, they start looking closely at his other activities, because his financial holdings start to suggest something suspicious.
Stretch's partner, Dennis Peck, so called role model of the LAPD seems to have no clue to his partner's private life...so others may think. Yet, as Stretch comes under pressure from Avila to help him deal with his problems, certain issues about Peck begin to surface. For example, an altercation between him and his partner, Dorian Fletcher (
Michael BeachMichael Anthony Beach is an American actor.Beach was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, of Cape Verdean descent. He attended the prestigious Noble & Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts on scholarship from ABC . He was introduced to acting when he was sidelined by a lacrosse injury during high...
) is witnessed by several other patrolmen, as well as other officers share of hatred for Peck and his techniques. Stretch is pressured to provide evidence against Peck in return for immunity from prosecution. While this fails, Avila finds a type of ally in Dorian, who also displays a certain disrespect toward the similarities between Avila and Peck, but agrees to help. Peck also threatens to make advances on Kathleen Avila, Raymond's wife, if Avila still persists in his investigation. At the same time, Raymond's marriage is starting to wilt due to his increased obsession with the case.
As Avila and Wallace start applying pressure to Stretch, he visits Dennis and, while playing out the moves of a tea party for Dennis' six-year old says "If I roll over on you, I skate" and later "I got nothing left to lose." Dennis, very calmly, and without breaking "tea party talk" says "don't you ever threaten me."
6 December 1989,
Peck and Stretch are on routine patrol on the graveyard shift in a radio car in
East Los AngelesEast Los Angeles is the portion of the City of Los Angeles, California that lies east of the Los Angeles River and Downtown Los Angeles, west of the San Gabriel Valley and the unincorporated area of East Los Angeles, California and City Terrace, California, south of Cypress Park, and north of...
. While heading through an industrial sector, they run across an abandoned blue van. Everything appears routine, until Stretch opens the sliding door, and takes a shotgun blast point blank range to the chest. As the shooter emerges from the vehicle, it is clear that this was a hit staged by Peck, who congratulates the killer, and then proceeds to kill him. He requests assistance to a
187-Roman Empire:* Septimus Severus, , is named legate of Lyonnaise Gaul.* Another plague hits Rome.* Albinus defeats the Chatti, a highly organized German tribe that controlled the area that includes the Black Forest.-Asia:...
on a peace officer, when the blue van speeds away, indicating a live witness to the crime, thus putting a wrench in Dennis' plan. Van, amazingly still alive, begs for help. Dennis kneels down, seeming like he is going to help his partner, but positions himself to strangle him, making it appear to the arriving ambulance crew as if Van died in his arms. Peck tells investigators that the perpetrator killed Van Stretch and that he himself had to kill the perpetrator in self-defense. This scene is pivotal to the balance of the film, as it establishes the ruthlessness of Dennis, and leaves no doubt that he will stop at nothing to eliminate any/all rivals, even if they wear a badge.
17 December 1989,
After making efforts to track down the witness to Van Stretch's murder, a sting is set up to catch him. However, things get bloody after the information of the sting is somehow leaked, and Avila and Wallace notice a sudden response from two LAPD
SWATA SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in American and some international law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
tactical units, who shoot on sight. The witness panics, shooting and killing Dorian, before he is taken out by a police sniper. As he dies in Avila's arms, he identifies Peck as the man behind Stretch's murder.
7 January 1990,
Later, Peck meets with Kathleen Avila, insinuating to be IAD, himself, to ask some questions about Raymond's behavior at home, and other innocent-on-the-surface types of questions. The real intent is so Raymond, who is "covertly" following Dennis as part of his investigation, sees Dennis and Kathleen meeting, thus establishing that Dennis can manipulate the game to his advantage. This episode also serves to put Raymond "on tilt" and he goes back to the office, slams a chair down and is sent home. Entering the elevator who does he see, but Dennis, who greets him with a head-butt, and proceeds to beat Raymond as he insults him and talks of bedding Raymond's wife that very day. In leaving the elevator, Raymond says (mockingly sympathetic) "Clean yourself up" and throws a pair of (presumably Kathleen's) panties at Raymond (a scene reminiscent of an earlier altercation where Raymond punches Peck in the face and tosses his handkerchief at Peck while saying "Clean yourself up"). Raymond's rage boils over, and he goes looking for Kathleen, finding her at Nicky Blair's on Sunset Strip with a client from the gallery where she works. Raymond proves he is totally off the hook when he confronts Kathleen about the lunch meeting with Peck, asking "who did you have lunch with?" When she says "none of your fucking business," he reveals the panties. He then punches out the client Kathleen is dining with, slaps Kathleen to the floor and screams obscenities in Spanish at all the customers in the restaurant, ultimately saying "You got a problem with that, Nicky (Blair)?"
The two make up the following morning when Kathleen convinces Raymond that she had not slept with Peck.
10 January 1990,
Avila and Wallace's continued pressure on Peck's family bears fruit when Peck's wife reveals the name of one of his associates, Steven Arrocas, which also happens to be the last name of two recent homicide victims. Wallace and Avila know this is far more than a coincidence, and pay a visit to the Arrocas house in Malibu.
As Raymond and Amy are en route to the house, Arrocas walks in on Peck making love to his (Arrocas') wife. Peck tries to goad Arrocas into killing his wife, but Arrocas accidentally shoots Peck in the foot instead. Peck kills Arrocas (though this is not shown on camera). Avila and Wallace arrive, and as they are clearing the house, Peck pops out from behind some garbage cans in the garage and shoots Wallace in the chest, then flees. Avila, fearing for his wife's safety, returns home to find Peck about to assault his wife. Avila, unnoticed, holds Peck at gun-point and then shoots him before Peck can attack him.
Cast
- Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, and came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
as Dennis Peck
- Andy Garcia
Andy García is an American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables and When a Man Loves a Woman. More recently, he has starred in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve...
as Raymond Avila
- Laurie Metcalf
Lauren Ophelia "Laurie" Metcalf is an American actress. She is widely known for her performance as "Jackie Harris" on Roseanne. She is also a major force in Chicago theater, probably best known for her performance in the 1983 revival of Balm in Gilead...
as Amy Wallace
- Nancy Travis
Nancy Travis is an American actress. She is known for supporting roles in both movies and television.-Career:Travis's first job after graduating high school was in the play "It's Hard to be a Jew" at The American Jewish Theatre in New York...
as Kathleen Avila
- William Baldwin
William Joseph "Billy" Baldwin is an American actor, known for his starring roles in such films as Backdraft and Flatliners .-Early life:...
as Van Stretch
- Michael Beach
Michael Anthony Beach is an American actor.Beach was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, of Cape Verdean descent. He attended the prestigious Noble & Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts on scholarship from ABC . He was introduced to acting when he was sidelined by a lacrosse injury during high...
as Dorian Fletcher
- Katherine Borowitz as Tova Arrocas
- Faye Grant
Faye Grant is an American actress.Grant was born in St. Clair Shores, Michigan to a police officer father. Her first television role was on the TV series The Greatest American Hero as "Rhonda Blake"...
as Penny Stretch
- John Kapelos
John Kapelos is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the janitor Carl in The Breakfast Club.An alumnus of The Second City, Chicago, John Kapelos’ theatrical work spans eight years from Second City’s Touring Company to six revues as a member of the famed Resident Company , and...
as Steven Arrocas
- Hamlet Arman as Carlos