BEFORE: I may have added this to my collection while confusing it with "Final Analysis", but that doesn't matter now - all that matters is that Richard Gere carries over and plays a cop in this one too, so this is the best place for it in the chain.
I'm planning a "world tour" later this year, with films set in various U.S. and foreign cities, an idea I totally stole from TCM "31 Days of Oscar" programming - that will be a good way to connect whatever's left on the list, even though they may have nothing else in common. I'm sort of warming up for that now by watching cop + crime films set in different cities - tonight I'm back in L.A., after leaving Brooklyn.
THE PLOT: Raymold Avila joins the Internal Affairs Department of the Los Angeles police. He and partner Amy Wallace are soon looking closely at the activities of cop Dennis Peck whose financial holdings start to suggest something shady.
AFTER: This is another treatise on the difficulties of police work - Gere's character even has a nice soliloquiy on the effect that the job, even when performed well, has on a policeman's body, mind, soul and marriage(s), to the point where so many end up suicidal, or on the take.
So it's no surprise that when the Internal Affairs Bureau starts investigating how cops are getting their off-duty work as security guards, they soon find out that they've only scratched the surface, and that one cop in particular seems to be at the center of all kinds of nasty business. I'm trying to maintain the spoiler-free zone, so I'll comment on my reactions to the events in the film, rather than the specific events themselves.
The film gets interesting when the cop starts to get inside the IAB officer's head, and throws down some suspicion on the guy's wife to distract the investigation into his dealings. The IAB officer then does a bad job of staying ahead of the cop's actions, or a good job of staying one step behind, depending on how you look at it.
The relationship between the IAB officer and his wife gets contentious, and they fight verbally and physically - yet oddly they're still fighting for each other, fighting for the relationship. I'm reminded of the mind games that I just witnessed by watching the latest season of "The Amazing Race", 2 episodes a night for the last week. If you ever want to test your relationship to the breaking point, by all means go on a reality-show race around the world.
When some of the contestants on "TAR", usually a married or dating couple, get frustrated with difficult tasks, or with each other's performance, you can see how quickly conversations can spiral out of control. Especially this season, where "Hey, honey, you didn't read that clue right," or "Come on baby, you can do this task!" can quickly turn into "You're always yelling at me!" or "This stupid race was your stupid idea, anyway!" Which of course, for overly dramatic people, is just one step away from "Don't even talk to me!" or "Maybe I'll just SIT HERE and not finish the race!"
Which makes for great television, of course, if you like seeing people argue. But one contestant in particular this season was particularly bi-polar, and went from zero to crazy in seconds flat, as sort of a conversational pre-emptive strike. Yes, you can win arguments that way, but in doing so, you cheapen the process.
But, as that TV show (and this film, I suppose) prove - someone can't get inside your head unless you let them do so. And someone can't push your buttons until they know you well enough - so I hope everyone is fortunate enough to find that one person who they want to drive crazy (and let themselves be driven crazy by) on a permanent basis.
However, this is one of those films that doesn't really end, it just sort of...stops.
Also starring Andy Garcia (last seen in "Black Rain"), Nancy Travis (last seen in "Three Men and a Little Lady"), Laurie Metcalf (last heard in "Toy Story 3"), William Baldwin, Annabella Sciorra (last seen in "Jungle Fever"), Faye Grant (last seen in "Omen IV: the Awakening") with a cameo from a 9-year old Elijah Wood (last seen in "Avalon").
RATING: 5 out of 10 lunch dates
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