Deep Cover

Rating:
Summary: Deep Cover DVD
Review: The release of this film to DVD format makes it a welcome addition to my permanent DVD collection. The DVD's quality is excellent, and I only wish that there were more special features on the DVD -- it's bare-bones ... the film, the trailer, and some cast notes.

The film itself is a classic that stands the test of time. It does not appear dated, 10 years later. The brooding Laurence Fishburne plays an Ohio cop enlisted by the DEA to go undercover in LA. He does so well, and goes so far under, that at one point he tells his handler, DEA executive Gerald Carver (Charles Martin Smith), that he can no longer tell if he is a cop posing as a drug dealer or a drug dealer posing as a cop. He shows Carver two kilos of cocaine, asking what he should do with them. Carver tells him, "You're a drug dealer ... deal drugs!"

The film chronicles Fishburne's descent from moral clarity into the very morally ambiguous world of the drug dealer, where to maintain his cover ("The only rule is don't blow your cover."), Fishburne ends up doing as much evil as the folks he's trying to bust.

He partners with crooked attorney David Jason (Jeff Goldblum), and together they "rise" in the drug-dealing underworld. The film is realistic, gritty and contains memorable dialogue.

The film is about moral choices... At one pivotal point, Fishburne tells Goldblum he's a cop, and Goldblum answers, that who cares if he is, and still offers him a major future in high-dollar drug dealing. We see Fishburne wrestle with good vs. evil choices, and the realism of that struggle is what makes this a great movie.

Rating:
Summary: Deep Cover DVD
Review: The release of this film to DVD format makes it a welcome addition to my permanent DVD collection. The DVD's quality is excellent, and I only wish that there were more special features on the DVD -- it's bare-bones ... the film, the trailer, and some cast notes.

The film itself is a classic that stands the test of time. It does not appear dated, 10 years later. The brooding Laurence Fishburne plays an Ohio cop enlisted by the DEA to go undercover in LA. He does so well, and goes so far under, that at one point he tells his handler, DEA executive Gerald Carver (Charles Martin Smith), that he can no longer tell if he is a cop posing as a drug dealer or a drug dealer posing as a cop. He shows Carver two kilos of cocaine, asking what he should do with them. Carver tells him, "You're a drug dealer ... deal drugs!"

The film chronicles Fishburne's descent from moral clarity into the very morally ambiguous world of the drug dealer, where to maintain his cover ("The only rule is don't blow your cover."), Fishburne ends up doing as much evil as the folks he's trying to bust.

He partners with crooked attorney David Jason (Jeff Goldblum), and together they "rise" in the drug-dealing underworld. The film is realistic, gritty and contains memorable dialogue.

The film is about moral choices... At one pivotal point, Fishburne tells Goldblum he's a cop, and Goldblum answers, that who cares if he is, and still offers him a major future in high-dollar drug dealing. We see Fishburne wrestle with good vs. evil choices, and the realism of that struggle is what makes this a great movie.

Rating:
Summary: Worth it for the title track alone
Review: The song "Deep Cover" is one of the finest achievements of Western culture to date. Snoop himself has never surpassed this early effort-- anyone who can listen to either of the two versions on this disc and not be profoundly affected should be drug out into the street and shot. The Shabba Ranks song, by contrast, is good for irritating your roommates. This album is not recommended for undercover police officers or their families. Or those who like their music with a friendly political agenda. Everyone else should buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Dre and Snoop are great, rest of disc is weak
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Buy this movie !!! Really !!
Review: This flick is intense !!! The action and drama starts in the first minutes of the film and keeps you glued the whole time !!! Lawrence Fishburne is awesome in this film as the good cop who has to sink into the pits of hell in order to catch the bad guys, he must become one of them. This really is a great movie, and if you like this movie, check out: KING OF NEW YORK-starring Christopher Walken, DRUGSTORE COWBOY- starring Matt Dillon, THE BASKETBALL DIARIES-starring the leonardo Decaprico kid.

Rating:
Summary: An Underground Classic!
Review: This is a truly excellent movie. Everything is good - the script, the plot, the cinematography, but above all the acting. How Larry Fishburne did not get an Oscar for his performance is beyond me. He has a really powerful screen prescence, his narration is pitched perfectly, but most impressive is the way his character's personality changes and develops throughout the film, something that takes really good acting and control to achieve. All of the other actors do well also, but none of them are as good as Fishburne. The action is gripping but controlled but it is the powerful plot which holds the entire film together. The film starts as a fairly standard "cops movie" but you realise about half way through that it's nothing of the sort. Forget about "Traffic" this is one of the most powerful attacks on the (so-called) "War on Drugs" that you are ever likely to see. The movie also raises all sorts of deep questions, about loyalty, principles, and how to maintain your integrity in a deeply corrupt system. Go and see it now!

Rating:
Summary: Stellar Cast/Script
Review: This is one of my all time favorite action flicks. It never gets old. It gets better everytime you see it. What I learned to appreciate about this film is the supporting cast. Fishburne plays one of the best roles of his career. He is absolutely riveting, as usual. But, my favorite actors in this film are the villains..Eddie, Ivy, and Barbosa. They have a certain ferocious, scumbag appeal to them, yet each in their own way. Eddie impressed me with the sheer look of panic on his face as he begs for his life. Most people tend to overlook such performances.
I also love the chemistry between Goldblum and Fishburne as they go from inferior to C.E.O.s of the underworld.
Both the film and its title theme are timeless and priceless.
A classic of the gangster/action genre.
A quotable film as well, I love the floetry soliloquies by Fishburne.
A must-have for any Fishburne fan.
I knew nothing about this film the first time I saw it. I don't like to give too much away. You won't be disappointed.
It's Awesome!!

Rating:
Summary: Above all expectations!
Review: This is the only movie that I rented on reccomandation from video-store clerk that proved worth watching.

Excellent cast, believable characters and dialogue, story with suspense and twists, well directed action and to top it all of -a moral story.

Plot in a sentence: honest black cop goes undercover and finds himself too deep...

This is no easy viewing, especially when you watch it by yourself for the first time, but it's quite rewarding in the end.

Favourite line: "All this time I thought I was a cop pretending to be a drugdealer. I am nothing but a drugdealer pretending to be a cop."

Rating:
Summary: 187 on an undercover cop...
Review: This movie was probably meant to be a drama, and for the most part it is, except for many lines and scenes that lie in the comedy genre. Made back when Fishburne went by Larry, it offers a gritty look at the drugworld surrounding each and every one of us. D.A.R.E. it is not and Goldblum portrays an excellent drugdealer trying to make that last big score. Rent it, because I know you'll enjoy the scene where "Felix" is thrown out of the limo...and hey its got a good soundtrack too (dogg reprazentin). We'll have shrimp, barbecue jumbo shrimp

Rating:
Summary: A superior, yet intimate portrait of an undercover cop
Review: 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.