***SPOILERS*** We the audience right away see that Pôrto Rican drug pusher Tony Vasquez's death was anything but justifiable in him getting his brains blown out by "hero cop" detective Let. Michael Brennan, Nick Nolte, at the very start of the film. It's now up to Brennan's good friend and head of the NYPD homicide department Kevin Quinn, Patrick O'Neal, to cover up Vasquez's murder and make it look like self defense on Det. Brennan's part.
In order to whitewash the investigation in Vasquez's death Quinn gets Assistant District Atterony Aloysius-or Al for short-Francis Reilly, Thimothy Hutton, to take the case to the grand jury and do everything he can to get it squashed. Reilly being the good soldier, or former cop, that he is at first does everything to make sure that Bremnnan gets off. That's until a star witness in the Vasquez case his friend and former street gang buddy Roberto "Bobby Tex" Texador, Armand Assante, shows up at a pre-grand jury hearing together with his newlywed wife, whom he lived together with for some five years, the former Nancy Bosch, Lenny Lumet. It so happens that Mrs. Nancy Texador was Reilly's fiancée who dropped him like a hot potato when he flipped out when he was introduced to her father who just happened to be black! Reilly who was all business in handling the Vasquez murder case suddenly lost his cool and professionalism which soon lead to him having doubts to if "hero cop" Michael Brennan was as innocent of Vasquez's murder as his boss homicide chief Kevin Quinn said he was!
Big city police and political corruption at its worst is depicted in the movie "Q & A" in grand style with almost everybody in it, police criminals and members of the city's Criminal Justic Department, ending up dirty in one way or another. Let. Brennan who likes to do things his way in creaking heads and breaking arms & legs, with a little murdering on the side, is up to his neck in what Bobby Tex and his gang of drug pushers are up to. It was in fact Tex who got the goods on not only Let. Brennan but a very high up member in the NYPD in their involvement in a murder some 25 years ago while they were, as teenagers, working for Tex's street gang as hit men in Spanish Harlem. It's now up to Let. Brennan, on orders from higher ups, to eliminate in every way possible the remanding members of Bobby Tex's street gang, together with Tex himself, in order to keep them from bringing out his and others in the NYPD participation in that 25 year old unsolved murder case! With one of the Tex gang members being the now gunned down Tony Vasquez!
***SPOILERS*** Reilly soon finds out just how dirty Let. Beannan is and that leads to his life and career in the D.A's office being put on the chopping block! Brennan for his part does everything to discourage Reilly from continuing his investigation of Vasquez's murder short of murdering Reilly himself. The movie get somewhat ridicules when Brennan goes out of his way in murdering a number of witnesses who can put him behind bars including a couple of transvestites who's only crime seems to be that they know of the macho cop Brennan's secret life as a closet gay! Which Let. Brennan wants to keep secret from his friends in the NYPD who just think, in his macho and manly mystique, the world of him!
With the now totally out of control Brennan on the loose, in both NYC and San Juan Pôrto Rico, murdering everyone he feels can finger him in his criminal, which includes the murder of Tony Vasquez, activities even those who were determined to get him off the hook now see that he has to be stopped and stopped for good unless, like he himself threatened, he exposes their skeletons, or dead bodies, in their closet as well! Brennan is finally tracked down in of all places his own New York City police precinct the two three, or 23rd, where he's finally gunned down by rookie cop Alfonso Segal, Gustavo Brens, when his good friend and former partner, who ended up getting shot by Brennan, Det. Sam Chappie Chapman, Charles S, Dutton, couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger on him!
In the end a wiser and older as well as busted up Assistant District Attorney Al Reilly finally saw the light in that corruption in the NYPD, going back to as far as 1791, is here to stay and there's nothing that he or anybody else can do to stop it. Taking a long vacation from his job we last see Al Reilly sunning himself on an island in the far off Caribbean with his former, and back again, lover Nancy Bosch at his side.
In order to whitewash the investigation in Vasquez's death Quinn gets Assistant District Atterony Aloysius-or Al for short-Francis Reilly, Thimothy Hutton, to take the case to the grand jury and do everything he can to get it squashed. Reilly being the good soldier, or former cop, that he is at first does everything to make sure that Bremnnan gets off. That's until a star witness in the Vasquez case his friend and former street gang buddy Roberto "Bobby Tex" Texador, Armand Assante, shows up at a pre-grand jury hearing together with his newlywed wife, whom he lived together with for some five years, the former Nancy Bosch, Lenny Lumet. It so happens that Mrs. Nancy Texador was Reilly's fiancée who dropped him like a hot potato when he flipped out when he was introduced to her father who just happened to be black! Reilly who was all business in handling the Vasquez murder case suddenly lost his cool and professionalism which soon lead to him having doubts to if "hero cop" Michael Brennan was as innocent of Vasquez's murder as his boss homicide chief Kevin Quinn said he was!
Big city police and political corruption at its worst is depicted in the movie "Q & A" in grand style with almost everybody in it, police criminals and members of the city's Criminal Justic Department, ending up dirty in one way or another. Let. Brennan who likes to do things his way in creaking heads and breaking arms & legs, with a little murdering on the side, is up to his neck in what Bobby Tex and his gang of drug pushers are up to. It was in fact Tex who got the goods on not only Let. Brennan but a very high up member in the NYPD in their involvement in a murder some 25 years ago while they were, as teenagers, working for Tex's street gang as hit men in Spanish Harlem. It's now up to Let. Brennan, on orders from higher ups, to eliminate in every way possible the remanding members of Bobby Tex's street gang, together with Tex himself, in order to keep them from bringing out his and others in the NYPD participation in that 25 year old unsolved murder case! With one of the Tex gang members being the now gunned down Tony Vasquez!
***SPOILERS*** Reilly soon finds out just how dirty Let. Beannan is and that leads to his life and career in the D.A's office being put on the chopping block! Brennan for his part does everything to discourage Reilly from continuing his investigation of Vasquez's murder short of murdering Reilly himself. The movie get somewhat ridicules when Brennan goes out of his way in murdering a number of witnesses who can put him behind bars including a couple of transvestites who's only crime seems to be that they know of the macho cop Brennan's secret life as a closet gay! Which Let. Brennan wants to keep secret from his friends in the NYPD who just think, in his macho and manly mystique, the world of him!
With the now totally out of control Brennan on the loose, in both NYC and San Juan Pôrto Rico, murdering everyone he feels can finger him in his criminal, which includes the murder of Tony Vasquez, activities even those who were determined to get him off the hook now see that he has to be stopped and stopped for good unless, like he himself threatened, he exposes their skeletons, or dead bodies, in their closet as well! Brennan is finally tracked down in of all places his own New York City police precinct the two three, or 23rd, where he's finally gunned down by rookie cop Alfonso Segal, Gustavo Brens, when his good friend and former partner, who ended up getting shot by Brennan, Det. Sam Chappie Chapman, Charles S, Dutton, couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger on him!
In the end a wiser and older as well as busted up Assistant District Attorney Al Reilly finally saw the light in that corruption in the NYPD, going back to as far as 1791, is here to stay and there's nothing that he or anybody else can do to stop it. Taking a long vacation from his job we last see Al Reilly sunning himself on an island in the far off Caribbean with his former, and back again, lover Nancy Bosch at his side.