Deep Cover

"There's a thin line between catching a criminal... and becoming one."

1992 1h 48m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🍅

87%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 279🍅87%Rotten Tomatoes●67Metacritic★7IMDB · 16,874

ActionThrillerCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.

“There's a thin line between catching a criminal... and becoming one.”

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Cast

Laurence Fishburne
Russell Stevens Jr. / John Hull
Jeff Goldblum
David Jason
Victoria Dillard
Betty McCutcheon
Gregory Sierra
Felix Barbosa
Clarence Williams III
Taft
René Assa
Guzman
Alex Colon
Molto
Roger Guenveur Smith
Eddie

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bill Duke
Writers: Darryl Henley, Henry Bean, Michael Tolkin
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

34 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bill Duke, shot by Bojan Bazelli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michel Colombier. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Carter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum and Victoria Dillard carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "There's a thin line between catching a criminal... and becoming one.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0104073 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bill Duke directs. Bojan Bazelli behind the camera. Michel Colombier scores. John Carter cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

134 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Bill Duke, shot by Bojan Bazelli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Michel Colombier. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor John Carter shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum and Victoria Dillard carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "There's a thin line between catching a criminal... and becoming one.".
7IMDB entry: tt0104073 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 11 themes, including "police", "undercover", "drug trafficking", "investigation".

The technical file

Cinematography: Bojan Bazelli
Original score: Michel Colombier
Editing: John Carter
Production design: Pamela B. Warner
Costume design: Arline Burks Gant
Makeup / hair: Shaka Ken Walter
Sound: Ken S. Polk
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $8,000,000
Box office: $16,600,000
Return: 208% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Deep Cover (1992)
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 67/100
IMDB rating: 7/10 · 16,874 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

5 nominations total

Also by

Bill Duke

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-08-15
★ 8/10
Two Masks. 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

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