INTERNAL AFFAIRS

It's always been something of a mystery to me that Mike Figgis was never one of Hollywood's major players. Apart from "Leaving Las Vegas" his films always seemed to slip under the
radar. "Internal Affairs" was his second film after the excellent "Stormy Monday" and it's still one of the best cop movies of the last thirty years and it gave Richard Gere one of the best parts he ever had, as charming and sexy as ever but with a mean streak as wide as the Grand Canyon. He's the bad cop that good cop Andy Garcia is out to nail and he's terrific in the role, (I wish he had played a villain more often). Garcia's pretty good, too and there's a very good supporting turn from Laurie Metcalf as Garcia's partner. But ultimately it's Figgis' taut handling of Henry Bean's first-rate screenplay that keeps "Internal Affairs" bubbling along. This is great entertainment; funny, exciting and razor-sharp and it's a shame it isn't better appreciated.