Rating: 
Summary: Good film; almost cliche free.
Review: I, like so many other people who grew up in the time I did and in the neighborhood where I did, was first attracted to this film solely through the title song by Dr. Dre on the soundtrack to the film. I can't remember how much I heard that song get played all over the radio and the hype it surrounded the movie with during that spring of 1992. In fact, it, in many ways, has outlasted the film itself in terms of pop culture's memory. And that is actually a shame. This a superior thriller, taking the undercover cop story and crafting a tension-drenched and surprisingly subtle movie. And though it begins to lose its bottom by the end and becomes a little contrived, for the first three quarters of the movie it is expertise and a whole lot more unpredictable than most films of its genre. Veteran actor Laurence Fishburne stars, in, surprisingly, his first lead role, as an L.A. cop who is assigned to go undercover and infiltrate a major cocaine empire in Los Angeles. It is a job he reluctantly takes; as a child he witnessed his junkie father killed while pulling a stickup on Christmas Eve. The flashback of this is shown as the opening scene and is one of the most disturbing in the film, as the young child, who had just listened to his father ask him what he wanted for Christmas, watches the whole bloody incident in horror and pain from the parked car. This plays heavily on his conscience and his psychic well-being as the film goes on. He goes everywhere from the seedy streets of the inner-cities and ghettos as a cocaine dealer and manages to get all the way to the highest ranks of the organization. He does this by working his way into the circle of a mid-level drug distributor. A supposedly clean-shaven man who owns a house, has a beautiful wife, and an eight-year-old daughter whom he practices the multiplication tables with in the morning. This key character is played with nervous ingenuity by Jeff Goldblum, in one of his most impressive performances, and is the symbol of the disturbing depths that a man's greed can go to. All of this, while extremely strong assets, are more or less pretty routine in films such as these. Director Bill Duke, however, manages to take it a step further and elevates this film with style and class. He has Fishburne narrate the story and allows the langage to be poetic and colorful, something that derives from classic 1940s film noir. My favorite line in the narration is on Fishburne's first day on the streets as a dealer when the voice-over says "The great thing about life on the streets is you know how it's gonna be. It's always the same. It's always getting worse." The strongest and most potent scenes in the film are the ones dealing directly with Fishburne's struggles with the moral decisions he must make. The "deeper" involved he gets in the criminal life, the more he begins to realize the cold and inhuman manner with which the government and authorities have been cast. It's not that he decides he likes being a drug dealer, it's actually the exact opposite. He becomes more and more determined to infiltrate the organization, by any means necessary, no matter how violent and chaotic it gets. As I said, the film does begin to lose its bottom by the end, as the plot becomes slightly overblown, however, I won't go into details as it would spoil some surprises. And overall the courage and conviction of the performances causes you to forget the lackluster final quarter. Roger Ebert said that this was "a drama disguised as a thriller" and I will have to agree with that statement. It is much more dependent on characters than on action scenes, and that is what makes it so much better and more intelligent that most of its genre. Everywhere in this film there is the unmistakeable look and feel of the early '90s, whether it's in the great soundtrack, the sharp cinematography, the fast-paced editing and camera movements, or the screen sweeps that segue from scene to scene. It was a good time in movies and music, if you ask me, but this film has aged much better than its closest companion 'New Jack City' has. Possibly one of the most overlooked cop films of the '90s.
Rating: 
Summary: one of the best
Review: if your looking for snopp dogs or dr.dre's best work get this album. the deep cover song is their best song together and ever.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast-paced
Review: Implausible, but engaging. A cop whose psychological profile suggests that he himself is prone to criminal behavior goes undercover to bust one of the major importers of drugs on the West Coast. Before long, he is dealing drugs for real in order to maintain his cover. By the end, he is poised to become a major figure in the drug underworld. It's more concerned with plot than with deeply exploring the character's moral dilemma, but it's tight and interesting. As always, Lawrence Fishburn is a powerful screen presence.
Rating:
Summary: FIND THIS CD WITH THE BONUS CUT
Review: In my first review of this soundtrack CD, I dogged it with 2 stars for having a lot of filler cuts and for dropping off the 16th track (it was on the cassette version). The big deal here was that the deleted song was "187um" by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg (who also did the title track). This Deep Cover revisited cut was one of the few highlights of the original soundtrack. Well, good news Dre/Snoop fans, there is a version of this CD with 187um as a bonus track. Do yourself a favor and seek out this version as it might be the only way to get these 2 Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg songs together on one disc.
Rating:
Summary: I Am Amazed There Aren't More Reviews On This Movie!
Review: Quite simply...a great flick, I ran into this movie by accident, just as I have so many other cool things. This movie is great and totally underrated. Do yourself a favor and the next time you are looking for a movie and you don't know what to get, eliminate the risk...check out this movie...I think you will pleasantly surprised.
Rating:
Summary: I Am Amazed There Aren't More Reviews On This Movie!
Review: Quite simply...a great flick, I ran into this movie by accident, just as I have so many other cool things. This movie is great and totally underrated. Do yourself a favor and the next time you are looking for a movie and you don't know what to get, eliminate the risk...check out this movie...I think you will pleasantly surprised.
Rating:
Summary: Strong Performances Take It Deep
Review: Strong performances by Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum dominate this story of a cop who goes undercover as a drug dealer, in order to "Do some good," in "Deep Cover," directed by Bill Duke. When he is ten years old, Russell Stevens Jr. witnesses the killing of his drug addicted father, who is shot as he attempts to rob a liquor store, while his son waits in the car. Twenty years later, Russell (Fishburne) is a cop, making good on the promise he made to himself the day he watched his father die; he wasn't going to end up like that. And he was going to make a difference. When Gerald Carver (Charles Martin Smith), an agent with the DEA, approaches him with the offer of an assignment to go under cover as a drug dealer, to help them dismantle the South American pipeline supplying most of the West Coast, and ultimately bring those individuals responsible to justice, Russell accepts; but only after coming to terms with his initial misgivings about taking on such a role. He'll be in so deep, he'll actually have to become another person; he'll be living the life full time, and it may take a year or more to accomplish what they set out to do. He takes the name John Hull, and goes in. This is a decent action film with a pretty good story, but there isn't much here that hasn't been done before; what sets this one apart from many others like it, however, are the two stars. Fishburne, especially (still billed here as "Larry"), takes a fairly routine character and gives him substance. He has such a commanding screen presence that it makes everything that goes down seem credible; he seemingly has the innate ability to know his character from the inside out, and what a difference that can make, especially to a movie like this. Goldblum, as well, takes his character of attorney David Jason to the limit. He lends a smarmy edginess to him, as he gradually takes his initial cool resolve to the brink of reason, then on past to the point of no return. Smith is not nearly as effective as the Princeton educated agent with clean hands, who drives Russell to depths from which he may never return, but Fishburne is such a good actor that it lifts Smith's performance to a higher level, too. Clarence Williams III, as Taft, the cop with the penchant for scripture, is believable enough, but there is something disquieting about watching him; he never blinks, which can be distracting at times. The supporting cast includes Victoria Dillard (Betty), Sydney Lassick (Gopher), Gregory Sierra (Felix), Roger Guenveur Smith (Eddie), Rene Assa (Guzman), and Arthur Mendoza (Gallegos). Duke gives a brisk pace to the film, and maintains it throughout, but keeps it all rather routine and unimaginative. "Deep Cover" then, is a reasonably satisfying movie, due mainly to the aforementioned performances, which really make it seem more substantial than it is.
Rating:
Summary: Larry Fishbourne Takes You Deep, Deep, Deep Undercover
Review: The acting, directing and casting of this movie makes it one of my all time favorites. Larry Fishbourne is brilliant in his portrayal of a straight cop who is forced into going deep under cover to bust a major drug cartel. His supporting cast ( Jeff Goldblum, Clarence Williams III and other strong performances ) make this movie all the more enjoyable, earning it a spot on my top ten list of favorite films. This film is as fun to watch today as it was in 1992. An excellent soundtrack and great cinematography make this film very exciting. Director Bill Duke ( A Rage in Harlem, Hoodlum & Sister Act 2 ) did an outstanding job with this movie. Caution, this film is not for weak hearted individuals. This is a real gangster flick. If you liked Scarface, A Soldiers Story, Platoon or New Jack City, you should love Deep Cover!
Rating:
Summary: The zillion dollar question
Review: The five star reviews pretty much say it all about this movie however for me the last line of the film along the lines of: "I could take the money which would be dishonest, or give it back to the government and be a fool, or just do nothing at all - this is the question we all must face at one time or another" extremely appropriate to the times [and probably for any time] and very moving. Overall this movie has tremendous impact and was very well written/directed/produced and last but not least the acting was generally superb throughout!
Rating: 
Summary: WEAK SOUNDTRACK FOR A GOOD FILM
Review: THE ONLY REASON TO BUY THIS CD IS IF THE TITLE TRACK DOESN'T POP UP ON SNOOP'S OR DRE'S GREATEST HITS CD IN THE NEAR FUTURE. MR. LOVERMAN BY SHABBA IS O.K. BUT THE REST OF THIS DRECK IS PURE FILLER. COULDN'T THE RECORD COMPANY HAVE DROPPED SOMETHING OFF OF THIS CD TO MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINAL CUT OF THIS RECORDING THAT'S ON THE CASSETTE VERSION BUT NOT THE CD? OF COURSE I'M TAKING ABOUT THE TRACK 187UM, THE OTHER DRE/DOGG CUT ON THE ALBUM. THIS DEEP COVER REVISITED CUT IS WAY BETTER THEN ANYTHING ELSE THAT CROWDED IT OFF THE CD. MY ADVICE, HOLD OUT FOR A BETTER QUALITY PRODUCT THAN THIS BECAUSE IT DOESN'T DO YOU OR THE FILM JUSTICE.
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