In Too Deep

How far can an undercover cop go before he risks not coming back out again? That was the question posed in Bill Duke's Deep Cover, where officer Laurence Fishburne inveigled his way into an LA narcotics ring. Here, Cincinnati detective Epps is set the same challenge: to walk the walk and talk the talk with sufficient credibility to get close to the local drugs kingpin. If the 1992 movie's still in your memory, the new version will seem undercharacterised, but for those coming fresh to In Too Deep the core situation still plays, even if there's not much else on offer, solid performances not withstanding, though. Epps may not have had a lot of room to work with, but behind the eyes is a moral quandary and rising anxiety. Such is the case whether he's playing the role, or it's playing him. His fear is palpable, too, being focused on LL Cool J's major supplier. If Aussie director Rymer finds it hard not to revel in the latter's macho grandstanding, well, once the action moves outside the gangland milieu there isn't much else to shoot.