Internal Affairs

In this episode, we talk about the 1990 crime thriller Internal Affairs directed by Mike Figgis. It stars Richard Gere and Andy Garcia. We talk about the plot, themes, and cast.  We also talk about how this film bridged a gap between 80s thrillers and 90s thrillers. Click and listen! 🎥🎥

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Well, and welcome to Cinema Chat with David Heath, and I am your host, uh, David Heath. And it's a remarkable coincidence uh that the name of the show bears m my name as well. Uh, in any case, uh we appreciate you uh chiming in or listening in, however you want to put it, but uh we talk about movies from every era and just about every genre uh in this uh podcast. Uh now here is a movie that uh we're gonna talk about that is almost its own genre. It certainly was a kind of a precursor to movies that would later come out, uh, but uh we'll get into uh the minutiae of it here in a minute. Uh but we're going to talk about the 1990 film Internal Affairs. Now, is this a crime drama? Is this a Neo Noir? Uh yes. Uh but the the film is so much more than that. It's got uh dark themes, uh, although sometimes it's tinged with light-hearted uh notes, but uh it is a really really dark and crazy film at some points. Uh but it's directed by Mike Figus. Uh, and uh we'll talk about his direction of the film and uh a little bit, and uh we'll also talk about uh Richard Gere and William Baldwin and Andy Garcia, the three uh stars from the movie, the three main characters, uh if you will. And we'll talk about the plot, and we'll talk about uh we're not gonna do any spoiling, but uh but we will talk about uh the the plot, at least the first uh close to half of the movie. And we will uh talk about some of the actors that are in it, and uh, of course, Mike Figgus, the director. Uh uh Richard Geere uh to place Dennis Peck, he's a police officer that it's clear right away uh that he is corrupt. Uh although Richard Gere is Richard Gere here. In other words, he's charming and he's very well liked in the department uh that he's in. And you know, people uh people take to him and he does he does the job, uh, even though uh later in the film we they talk the his superiors say he cuts corners, but hey, he works harder than everybody else. Uh but he is a low-level officer, uh, but um he seems to kind of run the department. And we'll get into more of that in a second. But his partner is played by William Baldwin. Uh, and and Baldwin plays kind of a loser type. Uh he has problems with uh drinking, and in the beginning they depict him as as uh a wife beater, which is where the whole thing kind of uh starts as far as the investigation, the internal affairs part of it. But uh but uh Peck, a play by Richard Gere, helps his his partner in the beginning with uh with uh uh uh well his partner shoots somebody and kills him. And so and so Peck decides to uh plant evidence, plant a knife, uh, to show that he had a weapon when he really did not have a weapon. And so it's just planting evidence on on a suspect. And he was being attacked, uh, but not with a weapon. Uh we soon find out this is how Peck just operates. Uh, you know, we find out that Peck is uh a de facto leader of the department through many favors that people in the department end up owing him. And because he's not the boss in in a strange way, he kind of it's all it's like the tail wagging the dog kind of thing. When you're the boss, you have to answer to everyone, essentially. And when you're low level uh but you wield a little bit of power, uh it's almost in a sense where you actually have more power and in a very strange way. And this is kind of how it works with uh with Peck, Richard Gere's character. We uh we we soon find out that he is just downright sinister. Uh he's having an affair with his partner's wife, and and he deals with drugs. And by the way, he's also a hitman. Uh there's a really great dinner scene where uh he is being propositioned to uh to perform a murder on on somebody and is offered fifteen thousand dollars and he left. That's not enough. And they said, Well, how much do you want? He's like, Well, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna go home, you go home, and you think about it, and you get back with me with an amount. Uh, but then interesting negotiation. Uh negotiating. Uh well enter Andy Garcia and Laurie Metcalfe, uh, which is an interesting interesting couple there. Uh they play partners and the internal affairs affairs division. Um, they are called upon to to investigate this shady first scene where the man is killed uh by William Baldwin's character, and they are just investigating to see if everything is okay with what happened. Uh and they're just basically cross-checking to m to see if something shady went down, and which of course it did. Um, but it ends up that that these two, uh Andy Garcia and Laurie Metcalf, end up investigating um Peck uh more more so uh than they do his partner, but and they so they both suspect you know foul play uh on the scene, but they suspect a lot more from Peck than just one incident like this. Uh but uh yeah, Garcia and Lori Metcalf, they're there they play the internal affairs officers, and they're introduced in the beginning uh of the film when uh they get started with that investigation of that scene, and their suspicion is that something is wrong with Peck, and and as the film goes on, we see Peck's character getting worse and worse, and we see the suspicions of the internal affairs officers growing and growing and growing. Uh now again, no spoilers here, but it becomes uh a really good cat and mouse game between the internal affairs officers and Richard Gere. Uh, and it's just an exciting film, and um we'll talk about the themes here in a minute. Uh, but um, in the meantime, let's talk about the people that were in this film. So from 1990, so we have to put our 1990 hats back on and say think about what it was like back then. Richard Gere, a much younger man. Uh, he'll be 77 in August, by the way. Uh, of course, Richard Gere is in a lot of romantic movies, comedies, and dramas alike. Uh, he was a huge star in the 80s, and it continued on into the 90s. Um, but uh was also in a string of thrillers, and this was uh really not the beginning of it, it was really kind of the middle of it. I mean, he he was in Breathless uh in the 80s, uh, American Gigolo, another another thriller. Uh in the 90s, he was in uh intersection uh final analysis. Later, he was in uh primal fear and unfaithful. Um, but here Richard Gere plays a guy that is cold-blooded and cold-hearted, um, but charming. He's a sociopath. And it's a lot of fun to watch Richard Gere here. Uh, the the interesting thing is Kurt Russell was he's kind of supposed to be in the role. That's who the producers initially thought of and kind of wanted. Um, and I'm unclear on whether or not they ended up with Richard Gere as because they wanted to or because Kurt Russell backed away from it. I'm not sure. Um, but Kurt Russell, of course, another guy that could play characters that are good guys and play bad guys and and everything in between. And you know, it's a different slightly different style. Um Kurt Russell's a little more of a tough guy, but but Richard Geere here is uh just absolutely cold-blooded, mean, and and cruel. And uh again, like a lot of 90s movies, you see you see villains that start out and you kind of question, are they okay? Are they kind of a bad guy? And then it gets worse and worse and worse, and then it gets really bad, and it gets to an unlevel that's you know, uh as they would say, uh in Spinal Tab, they get reach 11. Um, but uh Andy Garcia plays the the the new internal affairs cop, and he's uh paired with Laurie Metcalf. He's working on problems himself. Uh he's having trouble with his wife because uh who's played by Nancy Travis. Uh his wife thinks that he's married to his job. And as a matter of fact, there's a really interesting scene where he's paying attention to his work at home, and she catches him doing it while she's talking to him, and and he just she just can't handle it. And you know, um, yeah, eventually in the movie, I mean, even though it's well, we're we're not gonna spoil it, but but eventually in the movie um he he becomes uh very angry and possessive, and we question whether or not he's the good guy. We we're we're rooting for him, certainly in the beginning, um, but you know, closer, you know, to the end of the film, we all want to ask ourselves, is he really the good guy? And I think that's one way this makes this a neo-noir, uh, because uh certainly all the men in this movie are just rotten. And you know, Annie Garcia is a lot less rotten, but you know, uh you I don't want to spoil anything. Uh, but he has uh he does have an interesting scene with Richard Gere, more than one, but he has one particular uh where they are talking about his wife, uh uh Annie Garcia's wife, and and Richard Geere alludes to having an affair with her, and then they end up in a really big fight. It's pretty it's a pretty great scene, even though uh it's totally offensive. Uh Garcia, like Gear, is also uh able to uh he's capable of playing the good guy and the and the bad guy, the cold gold-blooded villain. He's done both of those. And you know, here we're we're kind of rooting for Garcia, at least I think we are kind of, maybe. But uh Andy Garcia is, by the way, 70 years old. An interesting anecdote uh is that Andy Garcia and Richard Gere did not get along in this movie. Now, there are people that were on the set that think that because Andy Garcia is a method actor, um, that he purposely started trouble with Richard Gere, but they got in a fist fight on the set during this movie, and um Mike Figus and I guess some of the other cast or crew had to break it up. Um, but I don't think Richard Gere wanted to fight. I think Andy Garcia was it sound like he was just starting stuff, but I'm unclear on exactly how that all went down. By the way, I I I tried to uh look I tried to um get in touch with Mike Fig Figus. I I had I've uh had some of his contact information, but he did not respond. Uh so unfortunately. Uh but I had intended to do this episode for quite a while, but uh I um sat on it and in the hopes of maybe getting somebody from the m the production on it. And nearly everyone is still alive from that this movie set. Uh so but so shame on me for not getting a hold of anybody. Uh, but uh well it is what it is. Uh Andy Garcia is uh has a pretty decorated career. Uh in uh the Ocean's 11 movies, uh the The Untouchables, Eight Million Ways to Die, Black Ring, and The Godfather Three, which he was nominated for an Oscar. And it came out the same year. Uh Nancy Travis plays uh Garcia's wife, uh, best known for Three Men and a Baby, uh, and also for a number of TV series that she was she's been in: Almost Perfect, The Convincing Method, Last Man Standing, uh, Becker. Uh, she has 77 credits and will be 65 in September. And when you have 77 credits and you've starred in multiple TV shows for multiple years, uh, you know, that 77, you might as well call it 100 because it bogs down the number of credits that uh that you're gonna accumulate. Um, but uh Nancy Travis is really good here. Uh she uh doesn't have a lot to do, um, but when she is on the screen, uh, she's really good. She uh effectually shows you how uh broken she feels and how frustrated she feels uh with with her marriage. And then uh she does a really good job when she's on the screen. Uh Lori Metcalf plays Annie Garcia's sensible partner. And um on first blush, you're you're thinking, you know, this isn't really a good good casting to have Lori Metcalf in a movie like this that's dark. But in fact, she does more than hold her own. She has a really fantastic job here as again being the sensible partner. Uh, we're left with uh like liking the women in this movie, but detesting the men for the most part. Um but Lori Metcalf shines as the one we probably like the most and when we sympathize with the most. Um because she all she is there to do is do her job, what she's been hired to do, which is root out the the filth um in the um you know and the in the in in the within the divisions of the of the police. Uh but uh she does really great hair. She's best known, of course, for her work uh in Roseanne and the Connors, and also uh famous Uncle Buck scene, uh where she where she has a little fun with John Candy and it gets out of hand, at least according to his girlfriend. But uh let's see, uh but she is uh like I said, she's on she's not believable at first glance, but then when you know when when you see her diving into the character, it's really actually really very good. Um and as a matter of fact, you can almost say that she and Nancy Travis are the only female characters you really care about. Um the other women in this movie tend to be kind of uh not much to do at all. Um but between these two, there there is a there is a really good really good stuff going on. Uh William Baldwin, of course, plays uh uh Van Stretch, the the partner of Rachel Gear, the Peck, uh, and um and he is the thing that kind of makes this movie a little bit of a head scratcher when you say who's the main character, who's the protagonist? William Baldwin is the uh the guy you think it is at the beginning because he gets involved with this uh crime scene and he shoots somebody that didn't have you know a weapon. And we think we kind of question uh, you know, is he the main character? Um but or is it Richard Gere who has the most screen time? Or is it Andy Garcia who we feel like we are living inside of a little bit more? Ultimately, I think Andy Garcia is the protagonist. Uh William Baldwin uh is just there in the beginning, um, but um, and I'm gonna say something kind of um kind of mean, but William Baldwin's just doing William Baldwin here. He's, you know. He's not very good. Uh yeah, you know, I I think uh William Baldwin wasn't able to do to this what he did to backdraft. I hardly ever get really critical with actors, but William Baldwin just wasn't he he's I not a very good actor. Uh I know he's got a lot of credits, and you know, uh but um yeah, yeah, he's yeah, but anyway, his his skill set is is not what his brothers is. Um but anyway, he is 63 years old. Um but I what I was saying was that he he wasn't able to do this what he did to backdraft to make you know backdraft to me as a movie that really could have been better um if there had been a stronger character. Than William Baldwin was in the movie. And I just think, I don't know what what it is, but I think he's dull. Maybe other people are going to harshly disagree. I doubt anybody harshly disagrees. You know, William Baldwin is good, you know, good looking guy. You know, you know, but yeah, he he's kind of a stiff when it comes to acting. And okay, I said all the mean things I'm going to say for a little while. I don't really go there very often with actors, especially the live ones. You know, but there it is. Michael Beach uh is all is a character actor that you might recognize uh from this movie. Yeah, you might recognize him from Lean on Me, uh The Abyss, or Soul Food. Uh very recognizable face, uh, you know, uh, and uh he might be one of those guys that you recognize. Another guy that's uh got a recognize all faces, John Cabellos. Um he is best known for his roles in uh 16 Candles and The Breakfast Club, and of course the Breakfast Club, he plays the the uh the janitor, he's the one in charge of the janitorial arts in the film. But um, but don't look now, but he's got 217 credits, John Capolos. So this guy has been in a lot of movies and a lot of TV shows. And he's someone, if you watched The Breakfast Club and 16 Candles, you recognize uh particularly The Breakfast Club, you recognize him pretty pretty instantly. Um Mike Figus uh directed this. Uh, he would go on to direct leaving Las Vegas, and here he directs a film uh with you know dark themes, not as dark as Leaving Las Vegas, but it is more violent, that's for sure. Um the thing that's interesting about internal affairs is that it is a what I believe to be a true bridge from the 80s thriller to the 90s thriller. Uh now there weren't nearly as many 80s thrillers, you know, No Way Out comes to comes to mind um 1987, Kevin Costner. Um, that is a much lighter film than than this one, and a lot of the ones that would come out in the 90s. Um, there were a lot of dark neo-noirs in the 90s uh and that you know that were almost humorless and uh you know pretty pretty um you know pretty um intense uh shall we say in the 80s uh there was a lot there were a lot of slasher films uh that people might deem as a thriller, but that's not what I would call a thriller. Uh but uh but my Mike Figgus though is 78 uh years old. He has a lot of credits to his name. Um but this one along with League of Las Vegas are his big ones. Uh other movies like this, I I don't always list movies like this. Uh um, but some of these that we're gonna do a podcast on at some point. Uh some of them. And I have some of them I have done one, like Copland, I've done one on that. Uh Malice. Uh uh Primal Fear is a is a movie that this kind of has uh a little bit of similarity to Pacific Heights. If you've seen that or if you haven't seen it, that's worth a worth a look. Story of Monday, uh One False Move. Uh that's one I know I'm gonna do a podcast episode on at some point. Holding out for somebody from that set to come on the show. Uh uh Training Day, I'd say it's a little bit a little bit like training day too, uh, in a way. Uh this film is not for the week. If you are offended easily um by let's just say violence or sexual language, there's not a lot of not a lot of uh, I guess they're sort of, you know, close to sex scenes in this. Um, but uh really it's the language that that will that will make you gasp if you're uh if you're among the the the lighthearted, but um but internal affairs nonetheless is it's a movie that definitely earns its R rating, let's put it that way. Um but uh but it is nonetheless a good movie. Not everybody's gonna like it. It's not everybody's cup of tea. Um, but if you like thrillers, it's worth your time if you haven't seen it. If you have seen it, I hope you've enjoyed listening to some of the anecdotal information about the movie. Um I always enjoy coming on the podcast and talking to you fine people that are clicking and listening. And if you are clicking and listening, I'm gonna ask you to do one more thing for me, and that is subscribe to the podcast. And hey, let me ask you for one more favor beyond that. Tell people that you know about the podcast, uh, or share it on uh on social media on Facebook. Uh, you know, join the Facebook page, the Cinema Chat Facebook page. 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