Richard Gere plays the role of corrupt cop to sleazy perfection in Internal Affairs, the Mike Figgis directed crime thriller that melds police procedural thrills with psychosexual dramatics.
Corrupt-cop movies live and die on the corrupt-cop at the centre of the story, and the Richard Gere portrayed Dennis Peck in Internal Affairs is as rotten-good as they come. An LAPD veteran with his tentacles in numerous illegal-enterprises, Peck embodies the nature of a deadly snake in his slithery charm, keen cunning, and venomous bite ready to strike those who dare cross him.
Perhaps most important is the psychological games that Peck likes to play on his victims, exploiting weakness and ego through his confident allure and keen jabs at insecurities that sting like a papercut. Gere delivers one of his best performances as Peck, blending the sinister with the sleazy to make an unforgettable villain.
Hellbent on bringing Peck down is Raymond Avilla (Andy Garcia), a cop uncompromising in his values who joins the internal affairs division of the LAPD where he first gets a whiff of Peck’s corrupt scent. Avilla is also married to Kathleen (Nancy Travis) who Peck uses to get under the hot-tempered Avilla’s skin.
Garcia’s intense smouldering machismo is the perfect counter to Gere’s charming sinister energy. When Gere and Garcia share the screen the animosity between the two is palpable, which is no doubt heightened by a rumoured off-screen rivalry between the two.
Director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) astutely taps into the themes of Henry Bean’s screenplay – namely ego, machismo, possession – and the effect it has on the numerous women in the lives of these two cops, which also includes Laurie Metcalfe as Garcia’s partner and Annabella Sciorra as Gere’s morally conflicted wife.
Corrupt cop movies don’t get as down and dirty like Internal Affairs yet still ends up smelling like roses. It’s a testament to Figgis’ filmmaking and the performances of its cast that Internal Affairs succeeds in doing so.
