DEEP COVER (1992)

Drama/Action. Directed by Bill Duke. Starring Laurence Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, Victoria Dillard, Charles Martin Smith, Gregory Sierra, Roger Gueneveur Smith, Kamala Lopez Dawson, Sydney Lassick.

Synopsis: A squeaky clean undercover policeman goes deeper than any cop should go in the cover of an up and coming drug dealer in Los Angeles. He gets in so deep and is so good in his role that he finds himself conflicted as to who are the real criminals and victims in the war on drugs. 

I've seen this one many times over the years but recently reacquainted myself with it on DVD. As is the case with any good film, it stands the test of time. Deep Cover is a hard hitting, fast moving, sexy action drama that begins by introducing to Laurence Fishburne's character, a straight arrow Cincinnati cop who, as we learn in the opening scenes, was set on that path by watching the death of his drug addicted father, shot in the back on Christmas Eve while trying to hold up a liquor store. As Fishburne tells in the voice over that accompanies the entire movie, "When I watched my father die like that, I had one thought...it wouldn't happen to me".

He takes it to such a level that, even as a cop in the present day, he has never even had a drink, and swears he never will. Well, in present day Cincinnati, a ranking representative (Charles Martin Smith. The Untouchables) of a powerful goverment agency (after seeing this flick several times, I'm still pretty sure that the specific agency is never named...if I'm wrong, let me know) is looking for an African-American cop to go undercover, and stay there, in Los Angeles in order to work uyp the chain of drug suppliers in L.A. and beyond to South America.

Reluctantly, Fishburne accepts and he is immediately sent to L.A., walking the streets of Hollywood and looking to make connections. These connections include a high level street supplier named Felix (Gregory Sierra John Caprenter's Vampires, Sanford & Son); a ne'er do well lawyer looking to get rich quick in the drug trade named David (Jeff Goldblum); and a beautiful siren who works as a money launderer (Victoria Dillard).

On the other side, he comes into contact with a spiritual narcotics cop (Clarence Williams III) and an addicted neighbor (Kamala Lopez-Dawson) with a young son who prick his conscience, which is being tested all the time as he goes in deeper and deeper, ultimately becoming one of the big fishes in the pond in the drug trade and committing other crimes himself.

Even though he is successful in getting next to the big drug dealers as he was asked to do, he experiences a betrayal from his law enforcement handlers and has to make a decision, is he a cop pretending to be a drug dealer or a drug dealer pretending to be a cop?

I think Fishburne is wonderful in this role, its perfect for him and you believe him totally on both sides of his character, even as they morph into one as the film progresses. Goldblum is his typical quirky, funny self and in this role adds a real dark edge to it that you don't seem from him very often (His brief turn as a street punk in Death Wish doesn't really count). Clarence Williams is very good, as always, and you just have to wonder why we don't see him in character roles more often.

I especially like the direction of this film, Duke keeps it moving and weaves the scenes together real well. Deep Cover is one of the best, if not the best, of the gangster/drug dealer movies that came out during the height of the most recent "war on drugs" even though it isn't the most well known or most seen. If you like this sub-genre of action films, don;t be afraid to check out this one, its not dated at all, feeling as fresh and relevant now as it did over a decade ago.