This film is up there, indeed at times exceeds the Hollywood remake of the BBC miniseries, Traffic, as a no-holds barred merciless look at the medium echelons of the drug trade and the so-called war on drugs in the United States during its time. I only gave it only an 8 because it is not exactly classic cinema material, although it is a valuable addition to any film library.

Technically, the film is remarkable for a strong performance from the lead and support cast - look out for a chilling performance by Gregory Sierra as Felix Barbosa. Charles Martin Smith, playing Laurence Fishburne's DEA handler, has got the federal bureaucrat part down pat - I'm afraid to say , as always since he tends to get typecast in only this kind of role. Lawrence Fishburne turned in a stoic yet raging performance that was believable and easy to root for. Only problem, is that he too ended up being type cast in largely the same persona. Jeff Goldblum, mercurial and sharp as always added a lot of the flair of the film. Also hats off to the woman who played Fishburne's single mother/drug addict neighbor (I didn't catch her name). The rest of the supporting cast really enriched the story.

The cinematography and editing were very effective and innovative for their time. Choppy editing with successive close ups was soon picked up by many future copycat films. This film was one of the original ones to use that editing idiom. The soundtrack also worked well , reflecting much of the cynicism and despair that pervades the movie ; at some moments the score enhanced chilling situations audibly, as it were.

All this means that Bill Duke (and the producers) did a very good job.

===== WARNING: SPOILERS - Possible spoilers ahead =====

Now story-wise, this has got to be one of the grimmest scripts to make it to production at the time. After seeing a film like the Player, I was surprised how that script ever made it to the big screen. Kudos for letting this film be made, really.

I won't repeat the outlines of the plot - you can read the plot summary for that. The story could sound as a cliché along the lines of "all i wanted was to do good as a cop but they turned me into a drug dealer." But it is not cliché at all. The script is so well paced that the stakes are periodically raised higher and higher, and the key moments of the film are timed such that they exert their full dramatic effect. The stakes are raised as high as they can be in the context of the story and the twists do not insult this viewer's intelligence. There were probably plot holes, but I missed them - I was busy enjoying the movie.

--- end spoilers --- This film is too dark for children and even early teens, but for the rest of the world it is a thought-inducing and worthy film, as a drama, a social/political critique and as a thriller/action/cop flick.

Hard-hitting and stylish, this film quickly moves beyond the usual notion of 'undercover drug work' into an altogether more practical & unpleasant understanding...

The film is well-paced and, most appropriately for this year, introduces a female art-gallery owner as it develops a relationship subplot. As the story progresses, the film breaks boundaries further & demonstrates an exceptionally sharp sensibility -- but fairly much returns to the standards for the climactic scene.

While not a Scorsese or Tarantino masterpiece, this film is very highly recommended.

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