In Too Deep (1999)

Action is a genre that is known for being way out there in terms of realism, with ridiculous special effects, shotty dialouge, and bad acting. Seldom is an action movie really focused on the story, instead it's always about the man who can do the impossible. In Too Deep was different though because it was based on a true story and there really weren't any expensive special effects. In this film, Omar Epps plays a rookie, undercover cop, whose first small assignment actually leads him into the number one crime syndicate in all of Cincinnati. The inexperienced cop uses his urban upbringing and street smarts to get him to the top, where he really has to decide which side he wants to be on. In Too Deep featured a great, real life story, that was on the level, I really enjoyed this film. On top of that Epps and LL Cool J were terrific opposing each other and giving strong performances. What I didn't care for was the blatant racism from Director Michael Rymer. Everything was very well done, but it is very obvious that the Writer/Director of this film was white, while the majority of the cast was black. What I witnessed was a film where all the people in charge were white, all the thugs were black, but it didn't end there. The white people spoke eloquently, while even the black officers and other non-affiliated cast members all spoke street. Every person from the rookie cops aging father to the man who ran the convenience store were dropping F bombs left and right, adding man to every other word, and constantly saying the N word. I understand the point of this movie was to be real, but part of that realism was that this gang had never been infiltrated because of how smart they were. Instead of being portrayed as smooth and savvy, the leaders of the gang were portrayed as ignorant thugs and that really takes away from the film.

Michael Rymers look at an undercover cop infiltrating a east coast drug lord is unrealistic, at times entertaining but all-together only average. omar Epps is decent in the lead role, but LL Cool J's performance as the drug lord wasn't the best. Nia Long was nice eye candy and Stanley Tucci and Pam Grier were good enough in there roles. THis film isn't the most realistic though at times obviously drastic. THe screenplay is decent but the sequences of events indicated in it are just not what goes on. There's better films out there in this genre such as New Jack City and great stuff like Donnie Brasco. THis movie is only avearge 7/10

Starting out his undercover career with small scale drug busts, Jef Cole is soon enlisted to go after the main dealer, known locally as God. When he gets in too deep and kills a dealer who moves up on him, Jeff is sent away to a remote spot to recover. When a chance meeting with a FBI agent reveals that no other officer has got close to God since then, Jeff offers to go back under – but can he avoid going native?I taped this simply because of the cast and I must admit I didn't expect much from it. I knew from the plot summary that it was going to be a version of Deep Cover, but with more rappers! However I did actually quite enjoy it. The plot, while not original, is actually pretty good fun to watch. The only thing that slowed it down was the seemingly pointless addition of the romance subplot which took the wind out of the film without adding anything to it. The main plot though is quite energetic and exciting – the question of whether Jeff will go `in too deep' or not is pretty moot simply due to the nature of the film but it is still good.Although in many films, rappers stand out as giving poor cameos etc, here they all do well. In fact the soundtrack is a good mix of hip hop all used to good effect. The opening credits are stylishly shot and the director does a pretty good job of mixing a gritty street feel with some stylish flourishes. The film feels very polished and professional rather the sort of cheap rubbish that many predominately-rapper cast films have been in the past few years.Speaking of cast, Epps does a good job as a leading man, he is a solid black actor who could be somewhere between Washington and Snipes in terms of abilities and genre. LL Cool J does a good job, enjoying himself playing a bad guy. He is actually quite a good actor simply because he picks projects that don't stretch his abilities. Long is a beautiful woman but is wasted in a pointless role here – she is worthy of more. Support cast includes a long line of rappers & cameos etc who do reasonable jobs – Sticky Fingaz is perfect in this type of role (albeit perpetuating a stereotype) and other faces include Pam Grier, Nas, Dupri and Mya.Overall this is a surprisingly enjoyable film that is criminally underwatched. While not original it is solidly good fun and well made with the cast giving enjoyable performances.

In Too Deep is a urban drama that was overlooked in 1999. Omar Epps is good in the lead role a J. Reid/Jeffery Cole an undercover cop who begins to lose his mind while trying to get close to God ( a drug lord) played very effectively by LL Cool in one of his best performances ever. The direction and cinematography are very good and the film features cameos from rappers Nas, Stickay Fingaz and Jeramine Dupri. While the film isn't as good as Deep Cover it's still worth a look.