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Laurence Fishburne plays the role of a cop that goes undercover in a group of notorious cocaine dealers. Surprisingly, this is his first major acting role, even though he has been acting since the age of 15, when he appeared in Apocalypse Now, and then with a starring role in Boyz N the Hood. He was later cast in the Matrix movies. His character in this movie has a difficult time committing the crime he was there to do. When he was young, he saw his father get murdered during an armed robbery, which has drastically affected his mental health. The murder forces him to look at himself in a different light, one where he is a police officer who is the epitome of virtue.
He is persuaded into accepting the position by an unfeeling federal agent portrayed by Charles Martin Smith, who defeats his objections by reference to a psychological assessment wherein: “Your mental fitness is almost criminal. You have a bit of aversion towards authority, possess a strong moral code, but there are no values that you follow. Look at all the anger and suppressed violence underneath you. Your flaws will become assets when you are in disguise.” Fishburne works as an undercover cocaine street purchaser. He manages to attach himself to the contacts of a semi-advanced cocaine dealer, who is unnecessarily played by Jeff Goldblum. Finally, Fishburne manages to get into the top ranks of the organization, which is bringing cocaine from South America.
That all seems like normal fare, the stuff of countless other films. What makes “Deep Cover” special is the pronounced distinction between good and evil, particularly how Fishburne’s character tortures himself due to the choices he has to make. Most of the shooting and killing in drug movies is so nonchalant that one would assume it does not even hurt to get shot, let alone killing someone. Lewis, portrayed by Fishburne, is so conflicted by the thought of murder that when he finally makes the decision, the consequences are painful for him. He has no shortage of contentious debates with Smith regarding the legality and ethicality of the policies he is instructed to enforce. And as the son of an alcoholic who was shot while intoxicated, he refrains from alcohol and drugs until an important part of the story.
“Deep Cover” was created by Bill Duke who did his share of television before landing his first feature assignment (‘A Rage In Harlem’ in 1991). He does this purposely in order to return to the patterns of forty film noir cycles. He has Fishburne do voice overs in the same way MacMurray did in “Double Indemnity” (1944), allowing the narration’s word choice to be elaborate and decorated. It is all part of the process of maximizing potency of the story by making it shift focus from being mundane to mythical.
This particular screenplay was written by Henry Bean and Michael Tolkin. Tolkin is unfamiliar to me, but Bean seems to be having fun this year after directing and writing ‘The Rapture’ which depicts a woman transitioning from loose behavior to being extremely religious, and writing Robert Altman’s ‘The Player” which tells the story of a Hollywood executive whose studio power struggle seems like a more deep seeded issue than an investigation into murder that puts him in danger. Clearly, Tolkin has a character who does immoral things only to regret deeply afterwards. In contrast to numerous movie characters, a Fishburne character who is stuck between deep moral issues is a norm in the entertainment industry that plague him, and he’s left to find an escape on his own.
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