Dennis Peck is made out to be a fantastic police officer but that is far from the case as he is completely corrupt, when Raymond Avilla arrives he quickly sees through his perfect act and becomes obsessed with eventually catching him out.
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Raymond Avilla joins the LAPD Internal Affairs Division (IAD) and is assigned to investigate a drug bust with his partner Amy Wallace. They quickly are investigating Van Stretch who does not follow correct procedures and his friendship with Peck is quickly exploited when he agrees to give information against his friend.
This film is the ultimate in chase and deception as even as a viewer we cannot believe the lengths Peck goes to appear a loving father and supporting three ex-wives, but how can he actually afford all of that on his low salary? Well, we get to see many different things that he is involved in and so many women as well. Even managing to get until Avilla's skin by meeting his with Kathleen.
The twists and turns are fantastic to watch though it has to be said, the high intensity and speed of the film adds to the enjoyment. Richard Gere taking on a truly evil and horrible character but still managing to have the charm and charisma we are more than used to. Considering this was a 1990 film like Pretty Woman it feels as though he was more than trying to get away from that romantic comedy nice guy image! This is certainly one way to really do that, take on one of the worst characters. A corrupt member of police always feels worse than any other bad guy role doesn't it?
Andy Garcia opposite Gere was a pleasure to watch, an actor who I am still catching up on is vast filmography. Really pleased that he was more of the good guy in this one though, had to say that as lets face it he did smack his wife across the face. Although at that point as a viewer we were lead to believe that she was also having an affair with Peck, so we sort of felt like she might have deserved it? As harsh as that sounds!
A very brief appearance from a young Elijah Wood near the start of the film was a little treat as I had no idea it was coming. Then Laurie Metcalf and Nancy Travis were both pretty strong female characters and this was something that I really enjoyed watching unfold. Given some fantastic moments and I absolutely love coming across that in older films to really remember that we can find hidden gems of female characters in all films!
