Deep Cover

Deep Cover is a lot better than expected, especially for a streaming original. The central premise of improv actors going undercover makes sense in a weird way and it's got enough laughs interspersed throughout as well as just being really good at the undercover stuff. It's tense, twisty and always moving forward whilst still finding time for some decent character arcs for the main three to make it an even more worthwhile watch.

Bryce Dallas Howard anchors all the chaos and Nick Mohammmed's awkwardness is endearing. Orlando Bloom is easily the best thing about this as his character who loves to take method acting too far consistently gets the biggest laughs and is the most watchable presence by far. Paddy Consadine is a likeable mobster plus screenwriters Ben Ashenden & Alexander Owen also make a fun comedic duo who get away with lampshading.

Tom Kingsley's direction imbues the film with a greater visual texture than something released straight to streaming usually has. It's clearly been shot on location and isn't constantly over exposed which aren't high bars to reach but are greatly appreciated considering how many films struggle to achieve them. There are undoubtedly luls between laughs, counterbalanced by how good they are when they arrive.

A home run from Amazon Prime and a stark reminder that when the casting is right, even the silliest concept can be an absolute hit.

3 Misfits. 5 mobsters. 100 minutes of chaos, or 3 Wannabe actors. 4 criminal escapades and 1 hilarious heist?

3 Amateurs. 7 bad guys and endless laughs?

Directed by Tom Kingsley and co-written by Colin Trevorrow. Deep Cover is a buddy crime comedy that fuses absurd improv energy with a sharp, surprisingly structured story. The premise? A London improv teacher and her two misfit students get recruited by a rogue cop to infiltrate the mob. And somehow, it Works, and really well.

And what a cast! Just perfect. Bonnie's got the smarts. Roach's got the fists. The Squire's got... a lunchbox and anxiety.

Bryce Dallas Howard (Argylle - Elly Conway) gives an extraordinary performance as Kat, the fast-talking, improv coach whose life hasn't exactly gone as planned. Caught between professional obscurity and existential drift, she's suddenly in a position but handles it with enough charm and wit to sell coke back to the guys who made it.

Orlando Bloom is another revelation. As Marlon, a hilariously intense method actor whose only real claim to fame is playing the Pizza Knight in TV commercials, Bloom's performance is a delicious send-up of theatrical self-importance. He approaches every ludicrous situation with the gravitas of Macbeth in a Wetherspoons. One of his improv backstories involves running away from home at five because "his inner child needed space." Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso) as the timid and awkward Hugh, rounds out the trio. He's the office worker who took improv classes just to survive small talk at work, until he's accidentally deep in the London criminal underworld. Watching him nervously snort coke to "test the product" might be the funniest moment in British cinema this year.

Together, this trio doesn't just carry the movie, they elevate the movie. Their chemistry is awkwardly brilliant, and their commitment to staying "in character" while navigating real criminal threats brings both genuine tension and laugh-out-loud moments. There's no smugness, no irony overload, just three actors throwing themselves into absurdity with full sincerity.

And the supporting cast? Stacked. Sean Bean as the sketchy cop, Paddy Considine (Kevin Harrigan - Mobland) as an unhinged mob fixer, and Ian McShane (aka Winston - John Wick) growling his way through top-dog gangster role Metcalfe. Surrounding the silliness with actors known for hard-boiled grit was a masterstroke.

Tonally, Deep Cover walks a tricky line and somehow doesn't trip. It's goofy but never stupid, serious without losing its bounce. The pacing is tight, at just over 100 minutes, it never drags. It even throws in a couple of clever twists to keep you guessing. And perhaps best of all? It avoids the lazy crutches of modern comedy: no toilet humor, no sex jokes, no gratuitous swearing. It's smart, situational, and character-driven.

Even the score elevates the movie with tracks like "It's Not Unusual" (Tom Jones) and "We Are Your Friends" (Justice Vs Simian). Fits like a straitjacket.

And absolutely, the plot is ridiculous. But that's kind of the point. And what sets Deep Cover apart is its energy. Unlike so many streaming comedies that feel stitched together in post-production, this movie feels like everyone was in sync. The actors improvise like their lives depend on it. Deep Cover is a riotous, fast-paced, and weirdly wholesome crime comedy that finds its strength not in reinventing the genre, but in committing to the bit. Powered by a cast that knows exactly what they're doing and a script that walks the absurdity tightrope without slipping, this is a film that knows how to make you laugh, care, and forget to check your phone. Whether you're here for the improv chaos, the mob satire, or just to watch Orlando Bloom monologue his way through a hostage negotiation-this one's well worth 100 minutes of your time. A solid 8/10. Better not miss this one...

It's best not to think too much about the plot. Don't do that, and you'll find the movie quite fun.

Bryce Howard, Orlando Bloom, and Nick Mohammed make for a believable trio; their chemistry works! Sean Bean, of course, is always a pleasure to see on screen. Paddy Considine and Sonoya Mizuno are also very able in their supporting roles.

The plot serves its main purpose of letting all the above actors play off each other. The dialogues are serviceable; the real gem here are the situations that the trio find themselves in. It's all so predictable, but nonetheless at times amusing.

If there's any major critique, it is that I wish the movie would have taken more chances and try to subvert our expectations - including maybe even for Sean Bean?

We've reached a point in cinema where simply telling a story without preaching feels almost radical. Deep Cover earns points for doing just that - it doesn't lecture, it doesn't moralize, it just spins a mildly absurd tale and has fun with it.

The plot revolves around Kat, a failed actress with a flair for melodrama; Marlon, her equally theatrical male counterpart; and Hugh, the mild-mannered tagalong who seems like he wandered in from another movie. The trio is roped into what appears to be an undercover operation by a cop named Billings, though "operation" might be too generous a word for what quickly unravels into chaos. Soon, they're knee-deep in actual criminal dealings, forced to "stay in character" as their improvisation turns into survival.

It's excessive and implausible, but somehow, it works. There are flashes of real fun, especially when Marlon, in full bluster, tries to blend in with two actual tough guys, only to be betrayed by a ridiculous commercial where he's in costume, mugging for the camera. It's silly, self-aware, and just meta enough.

Perfectly watchable popcorn fare, even if the scent of a sequel is already wafting in the air-and not in a good way.

What's scarier than being summoned up to the stage for a round of improv comedy? Going undercover in a ring of violent drug dealers? Such is the grimly hilarious reality in Deep Cover, an effective new action comedy that Amazon Prime, in all its infinite wisdom, has decided to randomly release with absolutely zero marketing or buildup, despite it having a pretty prolific cast. Three wayward, disparate struggling London actors (Orlando Bloom, Nick Mohammed & Bryce Dallas Howard) are recruited at their local improv dive by a shady DCI cop (Sean Bean) as part of a specialty undercover branch that uses improv actors to infiltrate illicit smuggling rings and gain intel. When their harebrained tactics literally land them in the trust and innermost ranks of a mid level heroin distributer (Paddy Considine, stealing scenes as usual) they are kind of forced to tough it out on their mission, which has become way more dangerous than ever anticipated. It's a very silly premise, as is any that crops up in a round of improv comedy itself but the film follows through on it admirably, with the lead trio finding ample bursts of comic inspiration, particularly Bloom who fancies himself a tough guy and gradually finds out that being one is kind of really stressful. Considine makes a super memorable character here as the scrappy thug who just wants out of the life, finding all the best bits of ironic humour in his lines. Also great is the ethereal Sonoya Mizuno as his weirdly angelic, trigger-happy lieutenant and the great Ian McShane positively devouring scenery as the head kingpin of the London underworld, his over pronunciation of an obviously intentionally silly Scottish accent a thing of deranged beauty. I'm not sure why they didn't market this at all, like whatsoever, but it's a fun bough time and all the actors are having a blast.