Deep Cover is a hidden piece of noir revived in the 1990s the blends in with the rap soundtrack from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog...

| Feb 28, 2023

A savage but sage unraveling of best intentions into a no-win situation. It's a thriller of sharp edges and ideas that borrows the patois and patina of noir, in which violent ends are not romanticized but simply just rationalized to diminished returns.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 25, 2022

This is not a simple story of a cop breaking bad. Instead, its a look at a Black man questioning his own place in the hierarchy of law enforcement and within America itself.

| Apr 20, 2022

An unapologetically blunt crime drama which plays with the concepts of good and evil to create a complex thriller

| Aug 23, 2021

The underlining brilliance behind Fishburne's performance is that slow, unravelling erosion of his moral compass in a film that's relentlessly searching for a soul.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 23, 2021

Even if viewers didn't see the full impact of crack's scourge themselves, they felt the shockwaves all the same.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 26, 2021

Fishburne and Goldblum make an excellent and unexpected team.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 24, 2021

Duke elevates it to the next level, touching on race, identity, and economics in a way that other films of the 1990s did not.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jul 18, 2021

Deep Cover is an interesting, above average noir with a black protagonist. Duke and co uses a genre to shed a light on the complex African American experiences.

| Feb 13, 2021

...this is a sad and hard-driving movie, a funny and sexy one...

| May 29, 2020

In its explorations of the dark coils of the drug underworld, Deep Cover builds an ugly fascination.

| Apr 13, 2018

Cynical police thriller that veers between a standard issue genre action pic and something more meaningful and original.

| Original Score: A- | Nov 23, 2009

Smart and stylish, it also has scenes of crackling violence and dramaturgy that oftentimes strains to work but, on the whole, Deep Cover is engaging, thoughtful and inventive.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 31, 2007

It's an unsettling yet compelling blend, and probably one you don't want to think about too much.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 31, 2007

Convoluted and mostly unconvincing as a portrait of the drug underworld, Deep Cover [based on a story by Michael Tolkin] still carries some resonance due to its vivid portrait of societal decay and a heavyweight performance by Larry Fishburne.

| Oct 31, 2007

What emerges is a powerhouse thriller full of surprises, original touches, and rare political lucidity, including an impressive performance by Jeff Goldblum.

| Oct 31, 2007

In addition to Fishburne, it gives us a first-rate soundtrack, a clutch of splendid cameos, fine, grainy direction from Duke, and much pointed stuff about the hypocrisy behind the USA's so-called war against drugs.

| Jan 26, 2006

Laurence Fishburne haunts this movie with his deep set fiercely intense glaring eyes.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 12, 2005

Cool, and deeply underrated.

| May 24, 2003