Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.
Acting
Fishburne's thousand-yard stare deserves its own Oscar category.
Direction
Bill Duke shoots LA like a fever dream you can't wake from.
Writing
That aquarium scene dialogue? Cruel, perfect, unforgettable.
Director
Bill Duke
Laurence Fishburne
Russell Stevens Jr. / John Hull
Jeff Goldblum
David Jason
Victoria Dillard
Betty McCutcheon
Gregory Sierra
Felix Barbosa
Clarence Williams III
Taft
Alex Colon
Molto
Roger Guenveur Smith
Eddie
Sydney Lassick
Gopher
Kamala Lopez
Belinda Chacon
Julio Oscar Mechoso
Hernandez
Glynn Turman
Russell Stevens Sr.
Sandra Gould
Mrs. G.
Charles Martin Smith
Gerald Carver
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bill Duke, a Black director, deliberately flipped the 'Black cop goes undercover' trope to critique how the War on Drugs targeted Black communities while pretending to save them.
The 'high on your own supply' rule David Jason breaks? The film suggests Stevens's real addiction becomes the performance of whiteness and power itself.
US
