Going into seeing this movie, I wasn't sure about what I was going to see. I was expecting something kind of good (because of Roger Ebert's review), but not great (because of some other reviews). But I was not expecting such a good film. Laurence Fishburne (Boyz in the Hood, What's Love Got To Do With It) stars as a cop who has avoided drugs and the crime life because of his father's involvement and death in it. Soon he is offered a job going undercover as a drug dealer. He accepts it. After a little while he gets himself deep into it. He forms partnerships with high ranked drug dealers, which includes Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, Nine Monthes). Soon he becomes less of an undercover cop, but more of a drug dealer. He soon realizes that he is betraying his cause and joining up with them. This presents a problem for him, because he likes the power as a drug dealer and the money, but he also vowed he would never become like his dad. This is a very well done movie, with a great script. Laurence Fishburne is excellent in the lead role. Jeff Goldblum (who I have never seen in such a deep role) is also strong delivering a surprisingly good performance. A good, but violent film.

Like "The Crossing Guard," this film, "Deep Cover," kept me on the edge of my seat. The scenes between Larry Fishburne and Charles Martin Smith are superb, the writing is virtually flawless, the action is exciting and fresh, and the topic is so relevant it's hard to believe it came out fifteen years ago. It could be released today, it's that topical. I love political action thrillers such as the original "The Manchurian Candidate," but that film, as exciting as it was, left me cold. This film has so much heart and love in it on top of all the thrills that I found myself astonished by the virtuosity of the artists that composed this gem. I'm already a huge fan of the actors. I will now be searching IMDb for the subsequent work of the writers, directors, and producers of this masterpiece. Bravo, "Deep Cover"! I'm telling all my friends about you.

In what is probably his best role to date, with apologies to his turns as Ike Turner in the classic "What's Love Got to Do With It", and Morpheus in the "Matrix" series, Laurence Fishburne plays undercover cop Russell Stevens, who poses as drug dealer John Hull to apprehend a notorious drug kingpin. This role is played in a way that only he could, with the zeal that makes him one of Hollywood's most sought after actors. From the moment that he tells the D.E.A. agent that "the n****** the one that would even answer that question" you know that this role was made for him. Also Jeff Goldblum is at his best as a not-so-honest defense attorney. And let's not forget Gregory Sierra as a sadistic crime lord and one of the best character actors of our time, Clarence Williams III as an honest cop. Add the soundtrack and "Deep Cover" is a bona fide 10 in the urban drama genre, a true masterpiece.

Artfully presented and blunt in its social critique, there is something deliciously honest about the undercover cop film, this being an ideal example of no-bullshit brio, starring "Larry" Fishburne as a dour L.A. agent who goes undercover to take down a Colombian drug syndicate. When he was a boy, Fishburne witnessed his father gunned down in a bungled liquor store bust; as an adult, he abstains from alcohol and drugs, and wears an impassive mien to keep the world at a safe distance. He's rigid, uncompromising, resentful of authority—he's the perfect mole, as his boss says (a squirrelly, race-baiting Charles Martin Smith), "because he fits the profile of a criminal."

Once under, the plot provocatively centers on the agonizing moral compromises Fishburne must make and his realization that right and wrong is relative to the power of the almighty dollar. Deeply cynical about the government's purported "War on Drugs"—at one point even implicating the president by name—the film sees it as just another white power structure profiting from, and fueling, a largely minority industry; honest cops and citizens pay the price for this malfeasance, an imbalance Fishburne eventually exploits with aplomb. But as much as it takes authoritarian corruption for granted, Deep Cover's attitude toward interracial sexual relations is at once fresh and unpretentious: As Jeff Goldblum's sleazy lawyer emerges from a black mistress's apartment quipping to Fishburne about the allure of exotic flesh, the film both confirms and renders ridiculous the sexual legend that, furtively, white men desire black women (and vice-versa). Instead of giggling around the issue, the film promotes this coupling as a reality, thereby reveling in the adolescent quest for exoticism and proving it a ridiculous affectation; in other words, "Get off your ass, white boy. It's no big deal." Deep Cover is also a showcase for Fishburne to prove his mettle as a leading man. He's consistently captivating, evincing the inner torment, sensitivity, and moral indecision so rare for protagonists in this sub-genre—this should have been the role that made him one of America's leading men.

Only toward the end does this hot-wire ride start to become cluttered with self-conscious gravity—Fishburne's voice-over starts to ring false when he drops stilted religious analogies—but this is for the most part a smart, dark, socially conscious thriller with the persuasive feel of noir.

Having witnessed his junkie father killed Russell Stevens grows up to become a policeman and make a difference. When he is offered an undercover job by Gerald Carver he accepts and begins to build a relationship with David Jason in order to get to the main dealers. However as he is forced to deal drugs and kill to keep his cover he finds the lines between cop and criminal being lost – is he a cop pretending to be a dealer or a dealer pretending to be a cop?

Larry (as he was then) Fishburne's first lead role was a typically dark vehicle. The story is the usual one of cop losing himself when undercover, however it manages to be more than that for most of the time. Co-written by Tolkin, who wrote The Player, this naturally has a nice cynical edge to it when it looks at the US's hypocritical approach to drug control and the political links between the street hustlers and the political high rollers who court respectability. The story does eventually settle into a traditional setting but even then it works well as a thriller.

The multi-talented Bill Duke directs well with a gritty feel and a few nice touches. However several things are a bit iffy. For most of the film Fishburne's narration/voice over is a bit like a cross between Apocalypse Now and Blade Runner – it comes across as a little too dark and heavy and also explains things like we can't figure it out ourselves. However once you get into the film it's not as big a deal. My main problem lies with the characters.

Fishburne is excellent, a real model of underlying anger and violence, Goldblum is good but perhaps a little OTT on the yuppie/violence thing, but there's good support from Smith and Spin City's beautiful (and often underused – but not here) Victoria Dillard. However the two main white characters (Goldblum and Smith) are both smeared with racist insinuations – Smith appears to insult his black officers and doesn't care about the junkies, while Goldblum is fascinated about all things black and talks about them as wild beautiful beasts and loves having sex with "black'. These things aren't a major problem, but with basically only two white characters in it, it's a little worrying that both are given that edge.

However these are minor complaints that get lost with a good thriller. Fishburne excels and Duke delivers a story that is a good thriller but also has a jaded, subversive edge.

This was really a perfect movie for this genre of film. The understated quality acting of Lawrence Fishburne is superb. I really enjoyed seeing the main character's downward spiral. There is excellent character development through the plot which is not the usual cliché. The acting all around is very high caliber, and the tone and pace of the film (directing) is spot on. Highly recommended, highly watchable, one of my top ten favorite films. Films are always better when there is dramatic conflict, and seeing the main character torn apart slowly provides compelling cinema. More films should be made like this! (with less explosions / body counts etc...) As a frame of reference - I am a huge fan of the early James Bond (connery) films, and can't stand the new ones...

Deep Cover stands out as a great example of how to make a good film and has something that is often missing from modern cinema. The cinematography, editing, and music are all outstanding. What's even better is how all those elements tie-in to a well thought out and communicated theme of duality. The two main characters Russel/John (Fishburne) and David (Goldblum) parallel each other nicely, and reinforce the theme perfectly.

On the one hand, there's Russel, the cop determined to make a difference in his community who is then taken advantage of by his superiors and used like a tool. Russel begins demonstrating more and more criminal traits as the film goes on, eventually "becoming" his undercover alter ego John. As a criminal, John is able to do exactly what he set out to do, all while commanding respect and receiving tons of money without any of the red tape he had as a cop. In the end, he has to make a choice, cop or criminal. Work with society and be dishonest to yourself, or work outside of society and be dishonest to "the system".

On the other hand, there's David, a lawyer with a nice wife, house, and kid, but also happens to be a major drug dealer. He too must make the same difficult choice, even stating in the film, "I want my cake and eat it too", which truthfully shows that it is a hard decision.

While Deep Cover is labeled by most as a "hood movie", it is quite different in it's themes from most films in that genre. Instead of simply presenting the inner cities' problems, the filmmakers here try to answer the question of why. Why do young people feel the need to become criminals? Perhaps it's because of the bureaucratic nature of a society that turns it's back on those with strong uncompromising individuality coupled with low income. Maybe not. But unlike most films that answer all the questions they present for their audiences, Deep Cover simply asks the questions, and leaves the answers up to its audience.

The filmmaking here is intelligent, the subject matter is interesting, and the audience is treated with an amount of respect that isn't easy to find in modern film. No, the film isn't perfect, but at least in my eyes, it's very close to being so.

Hard-hitting and stylish, this film quickly moves beyond the usual notion of 'undercover drug work' into an altogether more practical & unpleasant understanding...

The film is well-paced and, most appropriately for this year, introduces a female art-gallery owner as it develops a relationship subplot. As the story progresses, the film breaks boundaries further & demonstrates an exceptionally sharp sensibility -- but fairly much returns to the standards for the climactic scene.

While not a Scorsese or Tarantino masterpiece, this film is very highly recommended.

Where to begin in commenting about this film? Deep Cover - the low-budget motion picture that captivated moviegoers on its release in 1992 and thereafter with its multifarious blur of conventions - has become irreplaceable in this cineaste's film-loving career.

It seemed indistinct enough at the time of its release. Like so many other films about cops and bad guys, Deep Cover promised little else from what we were used to. Since movie culture primed filmgoers for stories about police who kill to attempt justice, we expected little else from it. Actor Laurence Fishburne, perhaps best known for his roles in School Daze (1988) and Boyz N the Hood (1991), didn't seem out of place here (in his first lead role), while actor Jeff Goldblum definitely did.

I missed the film in theaters.

The film's storyline owes its uniqueness to the subversions it pulls off. Deep Cover builds into the mythical from what seems like a simple cop story, while laying the psychology of its protagonist Russell Stevens, Jr. (Fishburne) bare with its madcap plotting. A proper reading of it is facilitated by the words of a passing character early in the film: "That's the problem these days. People have no imagination." Imagination is exactly what is needed to absorb the narrative of a cop pretending to be a drug dealer, who eventually realizes he's a drug dealer pretending to be a cop. Russell, renamed John by DEA agent Gerald Carver (Charles Martin Smith) to engage his undercover operation, braves misadventure and danger to work his way into the mid-level drug operation of David Jason (Jeff Goldblum). The idea explained by Carver is to work through and ascend a pyramid topped by a high-level cocaine supplier and take him down via the operation. But John must brave Hell to reach his goal, which is introduced to him by the superior agent Carver who says he's "God." A truly fascinating scene in the film comes due to masculine grudgery between Jason and drug dealer Felix Barbosa (Gregory Sierra). It is the birthday party of Barbosa's aide Gopher (Sydney Lassick) and Felix is more than ready to question David's criminal toughness. Before the eyes of the assemblage gathered around a table, Felix taunts David until he loses his cool. Felix then requests that David play a "game" of hand-slapping with him. John's vocal objection falls upon deaf ears. David goes along with the brutal sport until he is injured and humiliated. As John and David leave the small gathering, John notes by voice-over that one of the men will eventually kill the other.

John is brought aboard Jason's operation. While John argues that Jason needs a partner, Jason says he wants him as a courier. Jason explains his goal to John of introducing a practical synthetic cocaine to the market - a fitting ambition for a white husband who habitually lusts after younger black women and learns to murder for vindication. (The issue of interracial sex is given no short shrift in Duke's theatrical sci-fi film, by the way.) John finds a trustworthy friend in African art dealer Betty (Victoria Dillard), but only travels further along the path of righteous outrage. David's path to Nirvana is paved with black and Latino bodies. It should seem that John's moment of realization of killing a man with impunity might serve as a wake-up call. It doesn't. Only when John's neatly constructed role collapses before him, at Carver's behest, comes his awakening. Out-powered and frustrated, John realizes that he's acted as a puppet to the Feds. Fishburne rocks the screen with this mercurial persona of his creation. John takes his very first drink and leaves the sputtering Carver behind. Russell/John's rebirth is soon to come.

The best term to describe John's resolution of the conflict between social hierarchical manipulation and spiritual salvation is vigilante justice. John must rewrite the rules of the game and reclaim Russell before it is too late. And he must do it while dealing with high-level drug suppliers and the Feds.

Probably the most compelling aspect of Duke's film on its 1992 release and to date is its avant-garde form and content. David Jason's worldview could best be described as forcedly Edenic, whereas John Hull's plot at the film's end shows thought of Utopian character. The confusion that the John/Russell character suffers toward the film's climax is reminiscent of Ralph Ellison's 1952 novel Invisible Man. In each work, a black male protagonist struggles against a disturbingly fluid identity put upon him by society. This perhaps intentional "homage" to Ellison's classic waxes especially rhapsodic when John delivers free verse poetry on the spot and quotes crime writer Iceberg Slim when his luck runs out.

Jeff Goldblum's David Jason is a product of genius, a brilliantly crafted greed warrior similar to, and better than, the one limned by Al Pacino's Satan in The Devil's Advocate. This is white liberalism gone psychotic. And as for Bill Duke's direction, it was never better realized as it is during Deep Cover's macho dog-fights, stark realizations, and camera tricks (the shot wherein a man walks across a frame and wipes it away to the next one has since become standard in black film), and it may never be again. Deep Cover ushered in the fragments of an emerging black film aesthetic. Maybe some day it will receive the critical overview it deserves.

This movie has it all! Pace, action, sex and violence, but wrapped up in a plot that carries you along all the way. The good guy(Fishburne)is really screwed up and you end up really liking the bad guy (Goldblum). Real movie buffs will love the Hitchcockesque scene cuts and fans of beat music will not be disappointed. This is one of my favorite films - it's dark, both visually & theatrically, moody & (in my opinion) thought provoking. In no way does the film glamorize drug dealing or drug use, instead showing the consequences of both. I've always been a sucker for a film with a narrative & this has some very clever lines - it comes across as being more intelligent than the run of the mill drugs/cop/gangster film. It has it's moments of violence - but that's going to be par for the course on this type of film. It's grainy, dark feel adds to the overall "depressing" feeling & adds atmosphere. It has an almost "film noir" feel about - if that's possible for a color movie.

Unlike many other films that have taken the undercover cop story and pursued it in a typical fashion, "Deep Cover" takes a tense, intimate approach. Director Bill Duke creates a quiet masterpiece casting Laurence Fishburne as a by-the-book cop assigned to infiltrate a major cocaine empire in Los Angeles. His connection inside is Jeff Goldblum (in probably his best performance ever), a supposed clean-shaven Jewish lawyer who secretly longs for the thrill of a gangster's life while trying to maintain a family at home. Duke does not glorify these drug dealers as Scarface-type millionaires who revel in money & mansions but rather paints them as quiet, suspicious businessmen who hold no true alliances to anyone while nesting in pool halls & boxing gyms. There is never a moment where any of these characters are seeking fame & fortune. Instead, they are looking for recognition of their power over both their friends & foes. Fishburne soon finds himself sucked into the dealer's life against his will, doing whatever he can to infiltrate the organization despite how far "deep" he's involved in it (as opposed to the cliché that the cop decides he likes being a drug dealer). The soundtrack is only a stereo mix, but it's a pretty good stereo mix, with lots of left/right detail and the Rap style music still works surprisingly well.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

This movie exceeded my expectations.

I thought it was going to be a big action movie, but it was quite different. It is a very dark thriller.

While it still had some action this wasn't the main focus. It is very story orientated. Plenty of good twists in the plot line.

The acting was good. Except for at the beginning when there is a kid acting but he was still OK. Laurence Fishburne did well as past reviews have mentioned. Another good actor in this one was Jeff Goldblum, the Lawyer. The rest of the cast were good as well.

Overall I thought it was an interesting and dark thriller which should prove entertaining even with some brutal violence.

Deep Cover is directed by Bill Duke and written by Michael Tolkin and Henry Bean. It stars Larry Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, Charles Martin Smith, Victoria Dillard and Gregory Sierra. Music is by Michel Colombier and cinematography by Bojan Bazelli.

Traumatised as a youngster by the death of his junkie father, Russell Stevens (Fishburne) becomes a police officer. Passing an interview with DEA Agent Gerald Carver (Smith), Stevens goes undercover to bust a major drug gang that has links to high places. But the closer he gets in with the targets, the deeper he gets involved - emotionally and psychologically.

A splendid slice of gritty neo-noir, Deep Cover follows a classic film noir theme of a man descending into a world he really shouldn't be part of. This is a shifty and grungy Los Angeles, awash with blood money, single parents prepared to sell their kids, where kids in their early teens mule for the dealers and get killed in the process. A place of dimly lighted bars and pool halls, of dank streets and scrap yards, and of course of violence and misery.

The look and tone of the picture is as intense as the characterisations on show. Duke (A Rage in Harlem) knows some tricks to imbue psychological distortion, canted angles, step-print framing, slow angled lensing, jump cuts and sweaty close ups. Bazelli photographs with a deliberate urban feel, making red prominent and black a lurking menace. While the musical accompaniments flit in between hip-hop thunder and jazzy blues lightning.

Fishburne provides a narration that works exceptionally well, harking back to classic noirs of yesteryear. As this grim tale unfolds, his distressingly down-beat tone goes hand in hand with the narrative's sharp edges. The screenplay is always smart and cutting, mixing political hog-wash and social commentary with the harsh realities of lives dominated by drugs - the users - the sellers - the cartel, and the cop going deeper underground...

Great performances from the leading players seal the deal here (Goldblum is not miscast he's the perfect opposite foil for Fishburne's broody fire), and while some clichés are within the play, the production as mounted, with the narrative devices of identification destruction (hello 2 masks) and that violence begets violence, marks this out as one the neo-noir crowd should note down as a must see. 8/10

Shrewd, but angry and troubled police officer Russell Stevens, Jr. (a commanding and outstanding performance by Laurence Fishburne) takes a dangerous undercover assignment posing as a dope pusher in order to bust some major league drug dealers. Russell forms an uneasy alliance with high-strung and out of his depth Jewish lawyer and dealer David Jason (a splendidly twitchy Jeff Goldblum) in order to nail ruthless drug kingpin Felix Barbosa (a deliciously nasty portrayal by Gregory Sierra) and a few other biggies. Director Bill Duke, working from a sharp and incisive script by Michael Tolkin and Henry Bean, relates the gripping story at a constant snappy pace, expertly creates an extremely edgy and intense atmosphere, punctuates the narrative with shocking moments of brutal violence, and stages the rousing action set pieces with rip-snorting aplomb. Better still, this film offers a trenchant critique on America's hypocritical war on drugs, the fierce class and racial conflicts raging in every substratum of American culture, the fine line between cops and criminals, personal morality (or lack thereof), and the ferocious things one must do to realize one's grand ambitions in the criminal underworld. The uniformly terrific acting from the top-rate cast rates as another significant asset: Fishburne and Goldblum are exceptional in the leads, with sterling support from Victoria Dillard as the cool, sultry Betty, Charles Martin Smith as Russell's wormy superior Carver, Claurence Williams III as zealous religious fanatic cop Taft, Sydney Lassick as Felix's effeminate toady Gopher, Roger Guenveur Smith as slimy, antsy flunky Eddie, and Glynn Turman as Russell's doomed junkie father. The dialogue crackles with raw profane wit. Bojan Bazelli's glossy cinematography boasts lots of great striking film noir-style lighting. Michel Columbier's funky-bumping score hits the groovy spot. All this -- and a marvelously ambivalent ending, too. A total powerhouse.

This film is up there, indeed at times exceeds the Hollywood remake of the BBC miniseries, Traffic, as a no-holds barred merciless look at the medium echelons of the drug trade and the so-called war on drugs in the United States during its time. I only gave it only an 8 because it is not exactly classic cinema material, although it is a valuable addition to any film library.

Technically, the film is remarkable for a strong performance from the lead and support cast - look out for a chilling performance by Gregory Sierra as Felix Barbosa. Charles Martin Smith, playing Laurence Fishburne's DEA handler, has got the federal bureaucrat part down pat - I'm afraid to say , as always since he tends to get typecast in only this kind of role. Lawrence Fishburne turned in a stoic yet raging performance that was believable and easy to root for. Only problem, is that he too ended up being type cast in largely the same persona. Jeff Goldblum, mercurial and sharp as always added a lot of the flair of the film. Also hats off to the woman who played Fishburne's single mother/drug addict neighbor (I didn't catch her name). The rest of the supporting cast really enriched the story.

The cinematography and editing were very effective and innovative for their time. Choppy editing with successive close ups was soon picked up by many future copycat films. This film was one of the original ones to use that editing idiom. The soundtrack also worked well , reflecting much of the cynicism and despair that pervades the movie ; at some moments the score enhanced chilling situations audibly, as it were.

All this means that Bill Duke (and the producers) did a very good job.

===== WARNING: SPOILERS - Possible spoilers ahead =====

Now story-wise, this has got to be one of the grimmest scripts to make it to production at the time. After seeing a film like the Player, I was surprised how that script ever made it to the big screen. Kudos for letting this film be made, really.

I won't repeat the outlines of the plot - you can read the plot summary for that. The story could sound as a cliché along the lines of "all i wanted was to do good as a cop but they turned me into a drug dealer." But it is not cliché at all. The script is so well paced that the stakes are periodically raised higher and higher, and the key moments of the film are timed such that they exert their full dramatic effect. The stakes are raised as high as they can be in the context of the story and the twists do not insult this viewer's intelligence. There were probably plot holes, but I missed them - I was busy enjoying the movie.

--- end spoilers --- This film is too dark for children and even early teens, but for the rest of the world it is a thought-inducing and worthy film, as a drama, a social/political critique and as a thriller/action/cop flick.

Bill Duke has had a long and illustrious career as an actor (X-Men: The Last Stand, Action Jackson, Predator), a producer and writer, and as a director (Hoodlum, Deacons for Defence, The Killing Floor). In what could have been a routine blaxplotation film, he gives us a compelling story that was a thrill to watch.

That is not to say that the penultimate chapter could not be predicted a mile away by anyone who is familiar with our government and the fact that they would sacrifice American citizens for the sake of some tin-horn dictator. However, the final chapter in this film gives us some satisfaction as we see those agency scumbags and two-bit congressmen getting their due.

Laurence Fishburne was magnificent as a cop sent undercover to bust drug kingpins. He goes deeper and deeper and soon there is no way to tell the difference. Is there a spark of humanity left inside? One can only hope.

Jeff Goldblum was equally good as his partner in crime. Clarence Williams III was the best I have seen him as a cop, who was Fishburne's conscience.

Great film about undercover police work and the effect it can have on a cop.

As grungy and hard-edged as this movie is, I still found a number of good things going for it that made the movie entertaining to watch. The story moves very fast, which tells you something.

As someone who loves narration, I enjoyed Laurence Fishburne's deep-voiced first-person narrating. He was smooth in this gritty 1990s film noir filled with hard-boiled characters, rough language and some brutal scenes wrapped around a drug story. The early '90s produced some fine neo-noirs.

However, as rough as that sounds, they don't overdo the violence. However, the dialog can make you wince at times. It also has the normal Liberal cheap shots against Republicans: this time George Bush Sr. (The major villain, a South American drug lord is pictured as a friend of Bush's. Puh-leeze. And, you also get the usual baloney of the U.S. Government and the DEA being bad guys. If that isn't enough, they also play the "race card" in here. Yet, I still liked this film. At least they also took a shot at phony Liberals, who Jeff Goldblum's character portrays. Goldblum's "David Jason" actually had the best lines in the film, however. He is shown as morally-bankrupt atheist.

This movie is unusual in that the main character - Fishburne's "Russell Stevens" - goes from good guy to bad guy back to good guy! This is an intriguing, dark film.

One of the better drug movies has Fishburne who's really deceiving himself, going undercover. His reasons for becoming a cop, are seen at the start, where as a kid, one Christmas Eve, he sees his father shot down, after holding up a liquor store. He made a promise to himself that he would never drink or take drugs. Both promises are broken later on. His assignment (where a lot of other black cops failed the interview in quick cut scenes) for a shady superior-a fine Charles Martin Smith takes him on a journey through the underworld of drugs and it's penetrators. This includes scuzzy lawyer, Goldblum, fun here, also a desperate smooth talking pimp, a cowering slug too, with slick and catchy rhymes. His life is soon cut short while beaten to death by a pool cue from one of the real bad nasties of the show, who later challenges Goldblum to a knuckle game, where Goldblum, loses, bad, we too. feel that stinging and throbbing pain through skin. There's a nice sidestory. Fishburne living at one of these halfway houses, has a beautiful neighbor, a latina girl, a crack whore with a kid, again the message of drugs and it's effects, eminent here in this tight solid actioner. Her desperation and dependency on drugs, manifestly shown when trying to sell her boy to Fishburne, a sort of father figure here, as seen in it's ending too. A good angle I liked. Fishburne too, falls for his beautiful associate, her museum, a front for money laundering. I loved Goldblum in the first establishing scene, here. Fishburne says a line from Scarface, this movie, a reference of dialogue, scenes, clips used in so many other movies. This prompts Goldblum to recite a line, bouncing off of Fishburne's. Goldblum, puts his own funny spin on it, adding another line to it, but then again, Goldblum can be a funny guy. Fishburne keeps working his way up, selling drugs, living bigger and better than he ever has, and feeling so much like s..t for it. He even does his first kill, taking down a bad black dude, who shot down one of his younger female associates, earlier. And so he should, not only for that, but also, for taking an open leak on Fishburne's sleek shoes. He's finally swimming with the big fishes, an Italian Godfather, who's acquaintance is one of ugliness, rips a piece of jewellery from Fishburne's ear, where soon he meets the guy at top. Also too, we have that wonderful actor, Clarence (Mod Squad) Williams, the third, an unrelenting DEA agent, who busts Fishburne a couple of times, another pain the arse, he doesn't need. Fishburne recites a passage to William's in the absence of the latina girl, losing her battle with drugs. The dialogue works to pondering truth in this film, though it doesn't ring more true than in Fishburne's voice overs. Not many films do that. One of the writers here, worked on the Richard Gere movie, Internal Affairs, another tight solid plot movie. Deep Cover is obviously an anti drug movie, where all the baddies get their desserts, including Smith. It's a different and interesting drug movie, if being a movie experience in itself. It's informative as well, as we learn a thing or two about the long term effects of drugs, especially where the brain's concerned. Fresh and something different, Deep Cover certainly is. Don't worry, we do have a car chase, shootouts of adequate proportion, and violence, nasty at times, but minimized as in the use of it, with good performances, all around, especially the young girl.

Saw this for the first time just the other day. Excellent. Found the story very believable. Found the characters very believable too. And it was fun and exciting. Politics mixed in in a believable manner too. I don't often watch a film without thinking 'Well that was good but x y and z were stupid'. I liked Fishburne's character a lot and found little to fault about his approach to some tricky situations (the directors didn't make him do anything stupid or dumb just to work the plot. It made lots of sense and I like sense). There were a few weirdly shot moments (or maybe it was 'Lovefilm watchnow' being jerky. Can't be sure.) But I'm really impressed right now. Amazed it's not better known and appreciated. Might change my rating to 10 if I watch again one day and still like it, or am still thinking about it in such a glowing manner in several months. And loved the the Snoop/Dre for the ending credits.

Tough, cynical, intelligent and ahead of its time. 10 years before The Wire looked at the US War On Drugs in a similar fashion, to widespread critical acclaim, this little seen gem made most of the same points and was largely ignored. Laurence Fishburne gives a true tour de force of a performance as the troubled main protagonist- an angry, flawed, violent but ultimately deeply moral young cop. The supporting cast are equally impressive- and like all great noir films, each character is realistically flawed.....with the exception of Clarence Williams' honest detective (who winds up paying the ultimate price for being a good man in an evil, corrupt world in a devastating climax) there are no heroes here, just different shades of bad- I've rarely seen a film with such a cynical view of the police/law enforcement, and the villains- from Jeff Goldblum's greedy and amoral lawyer to Gregory Sierra's truly terrifying mid level dealer- are shown as even worse. What's most striking though, is the films uncompromising cynicism. It's explicitly stated that Guzman, the main kingpin, is and shall remain untouchable, because he's a close friend of the then president George Bush Snr! And, in perhaps the films most knowing line of dialogue, when Goldblum's character states to the Latin American Guzman "there's no black, Hispanic or white anymore.....just rich and poor, and we're all rich so we should be on the same side"- well doesn't that say it all- not just about drugs and the war against them, but about unfettered free market capitalism in general? An outstanding film- please see it if you like your thrillers tough, intelligent and thought provoking.

Yes, it was somewhat violent at times, but 15 years later (post-Tarantino) it's nothing a woman who likes an intelligent, extremely well-acted, written and directed movie can't handle. I'm a late convert; I used to avoid movies that I thought might have too much violence. Considering some of the "torture porn" movies of the last few years, this one's easy on the eyes.

That being said, this is now one of my all-time favorite movies. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed "New Jack City" plus anyone who's a fan of Mr. Laurence Fishburne and/or Jeff Goldblum. I loved the occasional poetry and especially the relationship between Fishburne's character, the undercover cop, and Clarence Williams III's character, a street cop. It was almost like a father-son type of interaction.

Don't believe the few naysayers, SEE THIS MOVIE!

I really enjoyed this movie!! I actually forgot the title of the movie and who the leading male character was throughout the years. But, the movie had such a great impact on me until I have learned many things from the premise and the plot, which have stayed with me. The writer did a good job of showing the conflict that Fishburne's character goes through after discovering the truth about the reality in which he finds himself (defending the right, while being used by the wrong, so to speak). His rude awakening of the falseness of the world in which he lived could be liken unto Neo at the beginning of The Matrix.

The angst that this character feels and the way in which he deals with the angst speak to me greatly. I also like the way the writer keeps one guessing until close to the end as to what choice the lead character makes - whether he will continue to fight the good fight or give into the power and lure of the darker side.

Wonderfully stylish movie with Laurence Fishburne at his very best. Lots of cool visual techniques and great music (featuring Snoop Dogg's debut with Dr Dre - "187 on an undercover cop"). Jeff Goldblum gives one of his better more enigmatic performances. Lots of cool dialogue with some prosaic (if that's the word!) monologues from Fishburne. A must see - own it on video and watch it over and over...

Russell Stevens, Jr., played here by the great Laurence Fishburne(Boyz N The Hood, The Matrix) is a Chicago police officer, who as a child witnessed his father die after a bungled robbery. Russell's captain(Charles Martin Smith) is looking for someone to send undercover to nab a notorious South American drug dealer. To do this, Steven's changes his name to John Hull, who moves to Los Angeles and lives in a small apartment and he succeeds as a small-time drug dealer. He is later introduced by one of his drug-dealing friends to David Jason(Jeff Goldblum), a defense attorney who is also a drug dealer himself. Stevens and David become inseparable and immediately want out from their bosses clutches and start their own drug trade by dealing a safer, synthetic form of cocaine.

This is actor Bill Duke's(who appeared in Commando, Predator) second directorial feature and is also his best.

This is my favorite Laurence Fishburne film, sadly it's also his most under-appreciated.

I give it a 9/10.

As far as I (the "me") am concerned, this is a really top 10 of the decade movie. Fishbourne gives an amazing, stellar performance that served to cement his reputation as a talented, malleable (to be lauded in an actor...) professional. To truly understand the content of this movie, you literally have to be thinking "Shakespearian" to put it in context. That he played Othello after is a rather pleasingly obvious choice. Put together hungry, ambitious actors and actresses, excellent writing that con-temporizes perennial concerns; combine with innovative, just beyond the current accepted edge cinematography; and you get Deep Cover. A deep symmetry and (of) actor sympathy (not necessarily in that order) reveals truths all but concealed by contemporary brusqueness. See the gd thing to appreciate it, and do it late at night. It is truly the sleeper of the last 2 decades; see it and be in on it.

This movie was awesome. I was expecting something less, being it about a DEA agent going undercover to shut down the West Coast cocaine cartel but this was full of drama and had master action scenes. Anybody who likes action-filled dramas or films about the U.S. cocaine trade should see this movie.