My review was written in June 1987 after a screening at Cine 42 theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.
"Under Cover" is a lethargic, uninteresting melodrama about cops busting kids using drugs at a southern high school. Young actor (from "Top Gun", "Radioactive Dreams" and many other pics) turned director John Stockwell directs with little energy and like several other Cannon releases of late, pic opened in N. Y. sans advertising at a 42nd St. Grindhouse.
David Neidorf (who physically resembles auteur Stockwell somewhat) plays a Baltimore cop who goes to Port Allen, South Carolina (pic was actually lensed in Louisiana) to join local narcs operating under cover at a high school. His fellow cop and pal (John Philbin) was recently murdered down there and Neidorf is out to bring the killers to justice. He is teamed up with pretty narc Jennifer Jason Leigh but runs into resistance from his local, southern-fried boss (and obvious heavy) Barry Corbin.
Though Neidorf and Leigh blow their covers halfway through the film in order to finger the school kids in a mass bust, pic continues in its listless narrative towards a wishy-washy ending in which even the bad guy is left alive and described as not really all bad.
Neidorf unwisely tries to imitate Mickey Rourke here with constant smirk and throwaway readings, creating a vacuum at the film's center. He's way too old for the role, but the script merely mentions that and goes on full-speed ahead. Leigh looks sexy but has little to do and supporting cast is weak. Tech credits and score by Todd Rundgren are unimpressive.
