Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A superior, yet intimate portrait of an undercover cop, December 16, 1999
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 cliche that the cop decides he likes being a drug dealer). Meanwhile, Jeff Goldblum also enters the chaos that's unraveling, learning to embrace the thug within him that was waiting to emerge. The film has the unmistakable look & sound of the early 90's (a good time in film & music if you ask me), but it has aged well due to sharp cinematography and a fine soundtrack. The film has a slightly distracting sub-plot involving Fishburne and a Christian cop played by Clarence Williams III, but Williams pulls it off with such conviction that you don't mind. There is also a great performance by character actor (and Spike Lee regular) Roger Guenever Smith as a switchy, mid-level dealer. Possibly one of the most overlooked "cop" films of the 90's, and a must-have for fans of Laurene Fishburne or Jeff Goldblum.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dre and Snoop are great, rest of disc is weak, July 2, 1999
By A Customer
The title song by Dre. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg is perhaps one of the best rap songs ever created. The lyrics are excellent and the beats are tight. While, Down With My Nigga and I See Ya Jay are commendable tracks, the rest of the CD is WEAK. The songs are annoying and just plain bad. But the song Deep Cover keeps this a 4 star CD because it is so awesome. Get this CD for the title track and Down With My Nigga but that's it.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Laurence Fishburne Catapults to Stardom, October 26, 2006
Although he was featured as the moral father in the landmark film "Boyz n the Hood" the year before and had been acting for ten years, "Deep Cover" was the film that made me sit up and take notice of Laurence Fishburne, then stand up and applaud. "Deep Cover" was directed by Bill Duke and he fashions a film that allows Mr. Fishburne a tour de force performance.
Like a lot of people, I like good Cops and Gangster movies. But I would argue that films like "The Godfather" and the more recent "The Departed" are successful in ways that "Scarface" is not because we get to see the humanity in the characters. It's not interesting to watch a bad guy who is nothing but bad through and through in every second of the film. Good guys aren't interesting in a film unless they're a little wrinkled. Michael Corleone is interesting in the Godfather films because he WANTS to be a good father, husband and man, but he keeps getting dragged into criminal situations that he would avoid if he could. By contrast, in Scarface Al Pacino portrays a sociopath and I quickly grew tired of his "I'm the baddest bad guy there is" act.
"Deep Cover" is a movie that has layers and Laurence portrays these many layers in an acting performance that is one of the best I have ever seen. His character grew up in the streets. He watched his father killed and is determined to grow up and stay on the straight and narrow. He becomes a policeman. Because of his intelligence and background he is recruited to go undercover to infiltrate a drug ring. He is hesitant, but Charles Martin Smith's DEA Agent character talks him into it. Smith has had a great career playing nerdy government types, and you can see that HE can't go infiltrate this drug ring, so Laurence seems a good choice.
Under cover Fishburne descends by layers, either becoming or simply pretending to become exactly the kind of man he has tried to avoid his entire life. Jeff Goldblum is flip and charming in a sociopath lawyer-turned-drug dealer kind of way - reminiscent of Sean Penn in Carlito's Way. Clarence Williams III is absolutely terrific in his few scenes as the good street cop who doesn't know that Fishburne is actually a cop too, and tries to steer him away from the trouble that he seems headed for.
What really makes Deep Cover burn is the performance of Laurence Fishburne. He is so convincingly conflicted about putting on the act of becoming a drug dealer. Will he be put into a position to commit serious crimes? To kill? After he has spent such a long time undercover becoming a Prince of the street, what will he do when he is offered the chance to move up to the big time in the drug ring? The climactic scene of "Deep Cover" contains one of the most intense acting performances I have ever seen. It would be worth watching this film only for that scene - but it's a good ride getting there. Enjoy.
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