Taglines: There’s a thin line between catching a criminal and becoming one…
Deep Cover movie storyline. In Cleveland, 1972, Russell Stevens Jr. is the son of a drug addicted, alcoholic man, who tells his son never to be like him. Stevens then witnesses his father getting shot and killed while robbing a store. He swears that he will never end up the way he has.
In 1991, Stevens is a police officer. He is recruited by DEA Special Agent Gerald Carver to go undercover on a major sting operation in Los Angeles, claiming that his criminal-like character traits will be more of a benefit undercover than they would serve him as a uniformed policeman. 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 and his uncle Hector Gúzman, a South American politician. Stevens relocates to a cheap hotel in LA and begins dealing with cocaine.
One day Stevens is arrested by the devoutly religious L.A.P.D. Narcotics Detective Taft and his partner Hernández, when he buys a kilogram in a set-up by Gallegos’ low-level street supplier Eddie Dudley. At his arraignment, Stevens discovers that he bought “baby laxative” (mannitol) instead of cocaine and his case is dismissed. Stevens’ self-appointed attorney David Jason, who is also a drug trafficker in Gallegos’ network and suspected of Eddie, rewards Stevens’ silence with more cocaine and introduces Stevens to Felix Barbossa, the underboss to Gallegos. Felix kills Eddie for working with the LAPD and enlists Stevens as Eddie’s replacement.
Stevens develops a romance with Betty McCutcheon, 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, Stevens kills him and is awarded a partnership in Jason’s new business venture; distribution of a synthetic chemical variant of cocaine. It turns out that Felix is working with Detective Hernández who pressures him into giving him more arrests.
Felix immediately gives up Stevens, Jason and Betty, since he views them as expendable and wants Jason killed during the arrest because of his business venture. Carver knows about this, but refuses to interfere forcing Stevens to violate orders and stop it himself by exposing Felix as a police informant, which results in a vengeful Jason killing him, while Betty reneges the drug business because of it with Stevens´protection.
Deep Cover is a 1992 American neo-noir crime thriller film starring Laurence Fishburne (this being the last film in which Fishburne was credited as “Larry”) 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.
The film’s soundtrack, Deep Cover, was released on April 4, 1992 by SOLAR Records and Epic 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 1991 to 1992.
Deep Cover (1992)
Directed by: Bill Duke
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum, Lira Angel, René Assa, Bruce Paul Barbour, Anna Berger, Donald Bishop, Jaime Cardriche, Victoria Dillard, Alisa Christensen
Screenplay by: Michael Tolkin, Henry Bean
Production Design by: Pamela B. Warner
Cinematography by: Bojan Bazelli
Film Editing by: John Carter
Costume Design by: Arline Burks Gant
Set Decoration by: Donald Elmblad
Art Direction by: Daniel Bickel
Music by: Michel Colombier
MPAA Rating: R for violence, language, drug use and sensuality.
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: April 17, 1992
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