Dumb fun, but definitely fun, Deep Cover is written by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow, of Safety Not Guaranteed (love that film), plus Ben Ashenden, who presumably injected the British sensibility here and there. Knockabout entertainment, it takes most of its inspiration from 1990s action comedies about inadequate characters in hazardous situations.
Who knew Orlando Bloom could do comedy? In my darker, more misanthropic moments I have wondered just what exactly Bloom was for after he outgrew elfhood (Legolas, son of Thranduil etc). He’s genuinely funny here, as Marlon, one of three useless would-be improv comedians recruited by an undercover cop (Sean Bean, in full Northern British, “Go on, fuck off” mode). Joining Method actor (failed) Marlon on a dangerous mission to infiltrate a drugs gang are Kat (Bryce Dallas Howard), the failed stand-up now running the improv course. And Hugh (Nick Mohammed), a tweedy milquetoast IT guy who has wandered into the improv workshop almost by accident.
Director Tom Kingsley and writers Trevorrow, Connolly and Ashenden pit these three against various characters familiar from 1990s action comedy. A low-life gang boss (Paddy Considine). A swaggering female assassin (Sonoya Mizuno). A Mr Big (Ian McShane). And a pair of comedy cops (Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen), who get to run through some of the hackneyed tropes of TV cop shows in a funny way, without the film becoming Hot Fuzz all over again.
The sight of Kat, Marlon and Hugh failing upwards, mostly by accident, but partly by following the precepts of stand-up comedy – keep the dialogue open, keep reacting to new developments – is the film’s USP. In the film’s best scene the improvs somehow manage to sell one gang’s cocaine back to the gang they stole it from, which sums up the entire “don’t take this too seriously” vibe.
Orlando Bloom’s earnest Marlon getting into his “I don’t care if I die” hard-man character is very, very funny and the scene where Marlon is invited to snort cocaine off the end of a house key by gang boss Fly is a standout, brilliantly played by both Bloom and Considine.
But it’s Mohammed who actually gets the biggest laughs, especially as tweedy Hugh and badass Shosh (Mizuno) start to form a relationship that is 50 per cent Carry On 1970s British comedy. Mizuno, who often doesn’t say much in her movie roles (Ex Machina, Alleycats, Annihiliation), gets plenty to do here and does it well. She can also swagger with the best of them. There is, needless to say, plenty of swaggering in this movie. And, being 1990s homage, of course there’s a Tarantino slo-mo moment.
Bryce Dallas Howard comes to this movie via the connection to the Jurassic World franchise, which Connolly and Trevorrow are both involved with. You wouldn’t automatically associate her with something this light, throwaway and Brit-flavoured and she is in some respects the gracious feed to Bloom and Mohammed’s more obviously comedic characters.
In the end everything gets quite detached from reality, which is probably the way it should be, and a touch breathless. The “and then and then and then” structure of improvisation – or that’s what Kat says – actually describes the plotting, which does eventually get a touch “are we there yet?”
But what it lacks in coherence it makes up for with jokes. Some land, some don’t. And energy. Which stays high throughout. I didn’t expect to like Deep Cover much but it turns out I did. I laughed a lot. Entertained.
Deep Cover – Watch it/buy it at Amazon
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© Steve Morrissey 2025
