I’m always wary about the term ‘action comedy’ because for every Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Hot Fuzz there’s a Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. It’s a tough genre to do well, but it looks like Tom Kingsley has cracked it: the new Prime Video movie he’s directed, Deep Cover, is getting rave reviews.
Deep Cover stars Bryce Dallas Howard as Kat, who teaches improv comedy and is beginning to believe she’s missed her big chance of becoming a comedy star. But then she bumps into an undercover cop played by Sean Bean, and he wants her to play the role of a lifetime alongside two of her students, Orlando Bloom and Nick Mohammed. But this isn’t a role on the stage or on the screen. Kat and her students are going to infiltrate London’s gangland by pretending to be dangerous criminals.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the resulting movie is “relentlessly silly” – and that’s meant as a compliment.
What are the critics saying about Deep Cover?
Deep Cover is currently sitting at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 critics’ reviews (it had debuted at SXSW London Screen Festival earlier this month), making it one of the best Prime Video movies. And the consensus is that it’s not exactly high art, but it’s highly entertaining.
Empire Magazine gave the film four out of five stars, comparing Sean Bean’s cop to Jackson Lamb from Slow Horses; saying it’s “well constructed, committing to the bit in the gag department while delivering clear set-ups and pay-offs for its central characters – a comedy that, beyond the class-A drugs and body bags, is about how improv gives three lonely losers a new lease on life”.
“It’s one of the most surprisingly funny films of the year,” says Ebert.com, giving the film three out of four stars. The cast “is fantastic from top to bottom, leaning into their on-screen personas in a way that holds all of this admittedly goofy movie together. Turns out you can accept a lot of silly plotting, as long as you’re laughing.”
“Amazon’s high-concept action comedy Deep Cover might be light on narrative escalation, but it has plenty of laughs and a terrific trio of lead actors,” says Screen Rant. And Ready Steady Cut said that “It’s near-perfect popcorn entertainment, an action-comedy with okay action and really funny comedy that puts its all-star cast to work playing exaggerated pastiches of their usual screen personas.”
What are the viewers saying about Deep Cover?
There aren’t enough audience reviews to fire up the Popcommeter to generate a score, but the viewer comments are tending towards four and five stars.
Nick M loved the gags but felt the crime could be better – “If the crime aspect was as good as the comedy it would be one of the best of the last few years,” he said, while Micki K gave it the ultimate compliment: “I actually put my phone down to watch it.”
Many of the viewers echoed the critics by singling out Orlando Bloom for particular praise – “all of the characters are perfectly cast,” says Scott F, and “Orlando Bloom is particularly funny” – as well as noting that how much you enjoy the film depends in part on what you’re expecting from it.
“This is a fun ride!” says Samantha U. “Take it for what it is – entertaining. It’s not an artistic work of film but man alive, I really appreciate this move. The acting was great. The writing was smart. The characters were lovable. It wasn’t 4 hours long like every other movie right now.” For Samantha it took her back “to a simpler time when movies were just fun.”
Deep Cover is streaming now on Prime Video.
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