Starting with a couple of scenes in a row that should startle any viewer, Deep Cover is a crime thriller/neo-noir directed by Bill Duke (a badass actor arguably best-known for his roles in a couple of prime Schwarzenegger action movies) that provides two brilliant roles for the lead actors. And when those lead actors are Lawrence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum, both proving to be perfect fits in their roles, then it doesn’t take long to realise that you’re in for a fantastic time.
Fishburne plays Russell Stevens Jr, a cop who is deemed a perfect candidate for undercover work. If he hadn’t become a cop then he could have easily become a criminal. Quickly repaying the faith put in him, Russell soon works his way up the ranks of the drug-dealing organisation that he has been ordered to infiltrate. He ends up forming a strong bond with David Jason (Jeff Goldblum), a slick lawyer who has started to take on more and more work from his superior, Barbosa (Gregory Sierra). Unfortunately, Barbosa also seems to resent their success.
Deep Cover isn’t interested in plausibility or reality. The central character is an undercover officer who commits various crimes, including murder, without regard for any attempts to remain within some recognisable moral framework that would show him to still ultimately be on the side of good. And yet, despite the slick movie moments and the brilliant thrills, there’s a strong core message about the ramifications of the drug trade, and how people are left with n a bad position by officials who can change their priorities, and allegiances, at the drop of a hat. As the misdeeds pile up, to put it mildly, it clarifies how far a good man is willing to go in order to effect some real change.
Duke directs well, helped by the fact that both leads are effortlessly cool and photogenic, and Michael Tolkin and Henry Bean give him a great script to work with. This may well be the best movie written by either man, despite a great variety of projects in their respective filmographies.
Fishburne and Goldblum are both on top form, and the film is energised by a middle section that allows some time for viewers to see a strong friendship between them. Sierra is easy to hate, a menacing figure overshadowing both the lead characters, but also an obstacle in the way of Fishburne’s character moving one more place up the ladder, and his network of cronies allows for some great little turns from Roger Guenveur Smith and Sydney Lassick. Clarence Williams III is excellent, playing a detective who keeps trying to help someone he just thinks is a regular drug-dealer who might still be able to get his life in order, and there are a couple of great moments feature James T. Morris and Alisa Christensen, a duo working in tandem to claim ownership of drug-dealing territory. Victoria Dillard is Betty, a young woman who is able to launder money, and she does good work, despite feeling as if her character is just there for Russell to take a shine to. And I cannot believe that I almost forgot to mention Charles Martin Smith, the man who almost steals the entire movie, brilliant as the cop in charge of the undercover operation, and the man responsible for giving the job to our “hero”.
Deep Cover has everything you could want from an early ‘90s crime thriller. The cast is a great mix of ascending talent and established faces, the pacing and dialogue are pretty perfect, the soundtrack is banging (as I believe the kids might say . . . joking here, but the soundtrack is genuinely excellent, complemented well by Michel Colombier’s score), and it never loses sight of what it’s really about, even if viewers temporarily forget it while being thrilled and entertained. The good is always there. It’s just obscured under deep cover.
10/10
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