10 Movies Like Deep Cover You Must See

Tom Kingsley’s action comedy film for Amazon Prime Video, ‘Deep Cover,’ stars Bryce Dallas Howard as struggling comedian and improv teacher Kat Boyles. When Detective Sergeant of the Metropolitan Police, Graham Billings (Sean Bean), approaches her to recruit talented performers for a low-level sting operation, she happily signs up along with two of her students, aspiring drama actor Marlon Swift (Orlando Bloom) and clumsy IT worker Hugh (Nick Mohammed). What starts as an operation to nab counterfeit cigarette suppliers soon spirals into something way worse, as the trio gets introduced to serious drug dealers in London who are in rivalry with Albanian gangs.

Stunned by the development, Graham conscripts them to continue impersonating dangerous criminals until law enforcement can take down the entire racket. The fast-paced film turns stone-cold situations into a laugh riot, highlighting the absurdity of the organized underworld in the face of strong improv. If you’re caught up in the adventures of the trio, here are some more films similar to ‘Deep Cover’ that you can consider picking up next.

10. Miss Congeniality (2000)

‘Miss Congeniality’ by Donald Petrie revolves around Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock), a sharp-shooting FBI agent who prides herself on being “just one of the boys.” When a terrorist threatens to detonate a bomb at the Miss United States pageant in San Antonio, Texas, she comes up with the idea of having an insider at the event. None of the participants are deemed suitable for the mission, leaving Gracie with no choice but to enter the pageant herself and make it to the very end. Like the trio in ‘Deep Cover,’ Gracie has no idea about the task at hand and improvises her run through the pageant all the way through.

9. Blue Streak (1999)

‘Blue Streak’ follows jewel thief Miles Logan (Martin Lawrence), who attempts to steal a diamond worth $17 million in Los Angeles. When the heist goes south, he hides the diamond at a construction site before getting arrested. Completing his sentence for two years, he returns to find a new police station at the place. In a desperate attempt to retrieve the diamond, Miles enters the building disguised as a transferred officer and accidentally stops an escaping thief. Impressed by the action, he is promoted to detective and partnered with Detective Carlson (Luke Wilson). The film by Les Mayfield turns the trope of police officers going undercover on its head, with a criminal infiltrating the LAPD.

8. Underclassman (2005)

Directed by Marcos Siega, ‘Underclassman’ is set around 23-year-old LAPD officer Tracy “Tre” Stokes (Nick Cannon), whose boyish appearance lands him the assignment of going undercover at an elite high school. While initially recruited to solve the murder of a student at a party, Tre discovers a stolen car ring operating within the circle. He gets more involved with the unsuspecting group, determined to bring the perpetrator to justice. While ‘Deep Cover’ has the trio watching each other’s backs, Tre works alone in ‘Underclassman,’ relying on his wits to survive.

7. Bulletproof (1996)

Ernest Dickerson’s film Bulletproof is about bumbling criminal Archie Moses (Adam Sandler), who works for drug kingpin Frank Colton (James Caan). Oblivious to the fact that his closest friend in the gang, Jack Carter (Damon Wayans), is an undercover police officer, Archie feels betrayed when the latter’s cover his blown. He accidentally shoots Jack before being arrested, and later reunites with him on the way to court to take a stand against Frank. Jack’s undercover cop attempting to bring down a drug lord resonates with the main plot of ‘Deep Cover.’

6. 21 Jump Street (2012)

Marking the live-action directorial debut of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, ’21 Jump Street’ revolves around Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum), two police officers who become part of the newly revived Jump Street unit. As a result of their youthful appearance, they are assigned to go undercover as students in a high school to prevent the outbreak of a new synthetic drug and arrest the supplier. However, the task proves to be tougher than expected, as high schoolers have changed a lot since they were actual students. The film changes the setting of ‘Deep Cover’ from the underbelly of London to a school in the fictional Metropolitan City in the US.

5. Serpico (1973)

Based on the eponymous book written by Peter Maas, ‘Serpico’ is a biographical crime drama about former NYPD Detective Frank Serpico. Starring Al Pacino in the titular role, the film by Sidney Lumet details an idealistic cop who refuses to take bribes even in the face of mounting peer pressure. His actions get him shunned by his fellow officers, while his superiors ignore his complaints of rampant internal corruption. Backed into a corner, Frank goes public with his allegations, which leads to an investigation into the NYPD by the Knapp Commission. The true story shows that just like cops go undercover to infiltrate external threats, sometimes it is required to look within to fix the systemic injustices.

4. Narc (2002)

Joe Carnahan’s neo-noir ‘Narc’ tells the story of Nick Tellis (Jason Patric), a suspended narcotics officer who gets drawn back into action following the death of an undercover cop in the line of duty. He partners in the investigation with the deceased officer’s partner, Henry Oak (Ray Liotta), a rogue cop desperate to avenge his friend. In contrast to ‘Deep Cover,’ the film portrays the dark underbelly of narcotics trafficking while painting a realistic and more horrifying image of what undercover agents face while attempting to dismantle the trade.

3. American Gangster (2007)

‘American Gangster’ is a semi-biographical film by Ridley Scott about Frank Lucas, the right-hand man of Harlem mob boss Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson. Following Bumpy’s death, Frank enters the heroin trade during the Vietnam War and quickly climbs the ranks to be one of the most powerful crime bosses in New York City. Frank’s growing influence draws the attention of Detective Richie Roberts, who begins to investigate him. While ‘Deep Cover’ approaches drug trafficking and its investigation with whimsy, ‘American Gangster’ is a gritty take on how it went down in history.

2. Donnie Brasco (1997)

‘Donnie Brasco’ by Mike Newell is set in the 1970s and tells the true story of undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone (Johnny Depp), who infiltrates the Bonanno crime family in New York City. Using the alias Donnie Brasco, a jewel thief from Florida, he develops a close bond with the aging family hitman, Benjamin Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino). While he gets deeper in his role, Joseph’s connection with Benjamin turns genuine, leaving him conflicted about his duties. Much like ‘Deep Cover,’ the film shows the lead getting invested in the undercover role in a drug operation to the extent that the line between their real lives starts to blur.

1. BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Directed by Spike Lee, ‘BlacKkKlansman’ follows Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. With the help of his Jewish co-worker, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), Stallworth sets out to infiltrate and expose the White supremacist group Ku Klux Klan, as it attempts to sanitize its rhetoric to attract more followers. The film is based on real events, documented by Stallworth himself in his memoir, Black Klansman.

Many parallels can be drawn between ‘BlacKkKlansman’ and ‘Deep Cover,’ despite the first being well-grounded in reality. It is the incredulous situation of a Black American becoming a part of the Klan with the help of another individual from a religious and ethnic minority that provides the humor in the narrative of the first. The people going undercover in both films have no prior knowledge or training for the task ahead, and only survive by having their wits about them.