Introduction to Deep Cover
The premise of Deep Cover is almost funny enough to carry the entire film: a trio of improvisation actors is recruited by the London police to go undercover on a low-stakes operation. Fortunately, thanks to the incredibly straight-faced performances by Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, and Nick Mohammed, this comedy about unfortunate actors embedded with dangerous London gangsters works. The film approaches its action tropes with an effective sense of absurdity, but it is the kinetic commitment of the stars to the piece that makes this relentlessly silly film work.
The Cast and Their Roles
Howard brings energy and conviction to her role as Kat, an American in London whose visa is about to expire, along with her luck as an actor. Now she teaches improvisation classes to pay the bills and looks a shame. Bloom is not exactly known for comedy, but as one of Kat’s students, Marlon, an ultra-high-maintenance actor who builds elaborate, dramatic background stories for his characters, even if he’s just passing by for a TV commercial. His greatest role so far is the cheesy medieval costume as a "pizza knight" for a commercial, and his agent finally drops him after he says, "You’re from the Cotswolds, you’re not Al Pacino." Mohammed is known for comedy, especially as Nathan in Ted Lasso, and is a natural for the role of Hugh, a buttoned, socially incapable man who is so desperate for friends and connection that he impulsively joins Kat’s class, although he has the most shaky understanding of what improvisation is.
The Plot Unfolds
The scenes that introduce these three are among the funniest, with the actors buying into the serious aspects of their characters even as they indulge in their stupidity. Sean Bean soon appears as Billings, a police officer who recruits Kat and asks her to bring two colleagues to the sting. It offers her £200 to go to a shop and buy a few illegal cigarettes, and with her best students, she has to fall back on Marlon and Hugh. The consequences come together during this sting as their often misguided improvisational impulses stand out. You just can’t help yourself. Marlon takes over the guise of a racket called Roach and, of course, overplays the role. The unsuspecting Hugh emphasizes "yes and" in inappropriate moments as if it were a dialogue line instead of the most fundamental improvisation principle. Kat is smart and steps in to try to save things, just to make them more complicated.
The Mob Connection
It doesn’t take long for them to meet a mob chief, Fly, played by Paddy Considine, who makes the character as hard as he turns out it is not. Kat convinces him that she is Bonnie, the brain of the operation, and that they are drug dealers. Marlon is the muscle, and Hugh "The Squire," the guy who tastes and authenticates the cocaine. With all the big mob access, Billings refuses to let her out of the performance, and if things go wrong, they have to meet the angry Big Boss (Ian McShane).
Behind the Scenes
There’s a bit of a behind-the-scenes reunion from the film Jurassic World. Trevorrow, who directed this and wrote with the mega hit with Howard, wrote a version of the Deep Cover screenplay together with his Law partner Derek Connolly more than a decade ago. Finally, Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen were brought in to rewrite and transplant the story to London, and they also have significant supporting roles on the trail of the improvisation trio. These detectives are not so clever and wrongly think that Kat and her gang are the masterminds behind London’s drug trafficking. In the detectives’ defense, the three do accidentally take out a notorious assassin.
Direction and Tone
The director, Tom Kingsley, is known for the droll British television comedy Stath Lets Flats, but the tone of Deep Cover reminds more of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost comedies like Hot Fuzz, with ridiculous action and characters and consistently sharp, if loose-limbed, performances. Kingsley guides himself with confidence, although the film hangs a little when the constantly essential action overtakes the character comedy.
Action and Conclusion
The action is effective enough, full of chase sequences. In the most ridiculous moments, the detectives drive through narrow streets and hunt Kat, Marlon, and Hugh, who try to escape them through rented bikes. These scenes are not particularly inventive, but because the film references action movie tropes, they don’t have to be. Deep Cover is a pleasant surprise, an easy-to-watch, airy fun film that will soon be available on Amazon Prime after its showings at the SXSW London and Tribeca festivals. Despite relatively little hype, it is a fun and entertaining film that is worth checking out.
