Deep Cover

Wikipedia:

Deep Cover is a 1992 crime thriller film starring Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum and directed by veteran actor Bill Duke. It is also notable for its theme song of the same name, composed by Dr. Dre and the then-newcomer Snoop Doggy Dogg.

Plot

Russel Stevens Jr. is the son of a drug addicted, alcoholic man. His father seems aware that he's ruined his life and angrily tells his son never to be like him. Stevens then witnesses his father getting killed while robbing a liquor store. As he watches him die, he swears that he will never end up the way he has.

20 years later, Russell Stevens (Laurence Fishburne) is now a police officer for the Cincinnati Police. Officer Russell Stevens is recruited by a cold-hearted DEA Special Agent, Gerald Carver (Charles Martin Smith) to go undercover on a major sting operation in Los Angeles. Stevens poses as drug dealer "John Hull" in order to infiltrate and work his way up the network of the west coast's largest drug importer, Anton Gallegos (Arthur Mendoza) and his uncle Hector Gúzman, (René Assa) a South American politician who's influence allows Gallegos to bring drugs into the country. . Stevens relocates to a cheap hotel in Los Angeles and begins buying and selling cocaine in order to establish himself as a street dealer. He meets crack cocaine addict Belinda Chacón (Kamala Lopez-Dawson), a struggling single-mother who tries to sell her son James to Stevens for money to buy drugs.

Stevens is arrested by the devoutly religious L.A.P.D. Narcotics Detective Taft (Clarence Williams III) and his corrupt partner Hernández (Julio Oscar Mechoso) when he buys a kilogram in a set up by Gallegos' low-level street supplier Eddie Dudley (Roger Guenveur Smith). At his arraignment, Stevens discovers that he was sold "baby laxative" (mannitol) instead of cocaine and his case is dismissed. Stevens' self appointed attorney David Jason (Jeff Goldblum), who is also a drug trafficker in Gallegos' network, rewards Stevens for not snitching by supplying him with twice as much cocaine as he purchased. Jason then introduces Stevens to Felix Barbossa (Gregory Sierra), the underboss to Gallegos. Felix realized that Eddie was working with the LAPD, which results in Felix subsequently beating Eddie to death for his betrayal and enlists Stevens as Eddie's replacement.

Stevens develops a romance with Jason's associate Betty McCutcheon (Victoria Dillard), the manager of an art dealership which serves as a front to launder Jason's drug money profits. When one of Stevens' dealers is murdered by a rival dealer named Ivy, Stevens with great difficulty kills him in retaliation and is awarded a partnership in Jason's new business venture; distribution of a synthetic chemical variant of cocaine. Detective Hernández pressures Felix into giving him more arrests because his superiors are suspicious of him. Felix immediately gives up Stevens, Jason, and Betty, since he views them as expendable. Carver knows about the upcoming bust, but refuses to interfere when Stevens requests, forcing Stevens to violate orders and stop it himself. At the deal, Stevens exposes Felix as a police informant which results in him being killed by Jason as they flee from officers surveilling the deal.

After killing Felix, Gallegos comes to personally meet with Jason and Stevens and informs them they have inherited Felix's $1.8 million debt. Later that same day, Stevens meets with Carver to tell him about his meeting with Gallegos, but Carver tells him that The DEA pulled the plug on Stevens' operation. After Stevens angrily protests, Carver pulls a gun on Stevens and orders him to surrender his weapon. Stevens disarms Carver and forces him to reveal that the DEA's war on drugs is a farce, and that Hector Guzman may someday be useful as a political asset to the State Department. Stevens becomes disillusioned and abandons his undercover status; vowing to go on his own to take down Guzman by any means necessary.

Stevens sends Betty away for her safety and then collects the money and goes to meet with Gallegos. Stevens and Jason learn that Felix only owed Gallegos one million, and that he was going to kill them regardless of how much money they give him. Instead of paying Gallegos, Jason and Stevens kill him and steal a van storing over a $100 million of Gallegos' cash. Jason and Stevens invite Guzman to a shipyard and offer to return 80% of Gallegos' money if he agrees to invest the remaining 20% in their synthetic cocaine distribution operation. Detective Taft, who has been tailing Stevens, interrupts the deal but is unable to arrest Guzman because of his diplomatic status. Guzman flees the scene before Taft's backup arrive, Taft orders Stevens to surrender as Stevens refuses. Taft reaches for his backup gun and attempts to shoot Stevens and is shot and wounded by Jason. Stevens reveals to Jason that he is an police officer but Jason, frustrated, ignores it and orders him to leave with Jason. Stevens refuses and Jason kills Taft, despite Stevens' pleas to let him go. Stevens then reaffirms himself as a police officer and attempts to arrest Jason, but is forced to kill him when Jason draws his gun.

Afterwards, Carver leverages Stevens by threatening to charge Betty with several bank fraud violations in the money laundering operation. In exchange for his favorable testimony of Carver, the DEA, and their sting operation, Stevens can prevent Betty's prosecution. Stevens agrees, but during his testimony to the House Judiciary Subcommittee, he produces a video tape of the incriminating conversation with Guzman at the shipyard, and states that copies have already been distributed to all major news outlets, thus potentially ruining Guzman. Later, Stevens accompanies James to his mother Belinda's grave (she died of a drug overdose) where he contemplates what to do with the $11 million of Gallegos' money that he secretly kept.

Cast

Reaction

Deep Cover was released on April 17, 1992 in 901 theaters grossing $3.4 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $16.6 million in North America.

The majority of critics responded favorably towards Deep Cover. It holds a certified "Fresh" rating of 84% on film review website Rotten Tomatoes and 73 metascore on Metacritic. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and praised the voice-over narration as "poetic and colorful. That's part of the process elevating the story from the mundane to the mythic". Janet Maslin, in her review for The New York Times, praised the "quietly commanding Larry Fishburne and the wry Jeff Goldblum, who make an interestingly offbeat team". In his review for The Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "What emerges is a powerhouse thriller full of surprises, original touches, and rare political lucidity". Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers wrote, "Duke (A Rage in Harlem) makes the perks of the drug lifestyle palpably seductive. But this time there's something new in the snortscrew-slay formula: a working conscience". However, in his review for The Washington Post, Desson Howe wrote, "With Boyz n the Hood, Fishburne broke through to the big time. Here, his acting career takes a step backwards". Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B-" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "The movie peels away every layer of hope, revealing a red-hot core of nihilistic despair. Fishburne, with his hair-trigger line readings and deadly reptilian gaze, conveys the controlled desperation of someone watching his own faith unravel. And Goldblum reveals a new dimension of comic rottishness". In her review for The Independent, Sheila Johnston wrote, "The disappointment of Night and the City has left some critics lamenting that film noir is dead in the water, but Deep Cover displays many hallmarks of the genre, down to the diffuse paranoia (perhaps the entire operation is a high-level Washington cover-up). It was the most unexpected pleasure to arrive here in many a month".

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack, Deep Cover, was released on April 4, 1992 by SOLAR Records, containing a mix of hip hop, reggae and R&B tracks, peaking at #166 on the Billboard 200 and #9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The soundtrack was performed by Snoop Doggy Dogg(a newcomer at the time) and Dr. Dre from 1961-1962.