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Admirable film.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Action is a genre that is known for being way out there in terms of realism, with ridiculous special effects, shotty dialouge, and bad acting. Seldom is an action movie really focused on the story, instead it's always about the man who can do the impossible. In Too Deep was different though because it was based on a true story and there really weren't any expensive special effects. In this film, Omar Epps plays a rookie, undercover cop, whose first small assignment actually leads him into the number one crime syndicate in all of Cincinnati. The inexperienced cop uses his urban upbringing and street smarts to get him to the top, where he really has to decide which side he wants to be on. In Too Deep featured a great, real life story, that was on the level, I really enjoyed this film. On top of that Epps and LL Cool J were terrific opposing each other and giving strong performances. What I didn't care for was the blatant racism from Director Michael Rymer. Everything was very well done, but it is very obvious that the Writer/Director of this film was white, while the majority of the cast was black. What I witnessed was a film where all the people in charge were white, all the thugs were black, but it didn't end there. The white people spoke eloquently, while even the black officers and other non-affiliated cast members all spoke street. Every person from the rookie cops aging father to the man who ran the convenience store were dropping F bombs left and right, adding man to every other word, and constantly saying the N word. I understand the point of this movie was to be real, but part of that realism was that this gang had never been infiltrated because of how smart they were. Instead of being portrayed as smooth and savvy, the leaders of the gang were portrayed as ignorant thugs and that really takes away from the film.

The title is a misnomer; "In Too Deep" is shallow and rushed. There isn't one original idea to be found anywhere in this film; you'll recognize scenes taken from movies you haven't even seen! The "beginning-at-the-end" structure eliminates most of the suspense as well. But if you insist on watching the film, be sure to rent the DVD version with optional English subtitles, because only about 50% of the dialogue is comprehensible. (**)

Starting out his undercover career with small scale drug busts, Jef Cole is soon enlisted to go after the main dealer, known locally as God. When he gets in too deep and kills a dealer who moves up on him, Jeff is sent away to a remote spot to recover. When a chance meeting with a FBI agent reveals that no other officer has got close to God since then, Jeff offers to go back under – but can he avoid going native?I taped this simply because of the cast and I must admit I didn't expect much from it. I knew from the plot summary that it was going to be a version of Deep Cover, but with more rappers! However I did actually quite enjoy it. The plot, while not original, is actually pretty good fun to watch. The only thing that slowed it down was the seemingly pointless addition of the romance subplot which took the wind out of the film without adding anything to it. The main plot though is quite energetic and exciting – the question of whether Jeff will go `in too deep' or not is pretty moot simply due to the nature of the film but it is still good.Although in many films, rappers stand out as giving poor cameos etc, here they all do well. In fact the soundtrack is a good mix of hip hop all used to good effect. The opening credits are stylishly shot and the director does a pretty good job of mixing a gritty street feel with some stylish flourishes. The film feels very polished and professional rather the sort of cheap rubbish that many predominately-rapper cast films have been in the past few years.Speaking of cast, Epps does a good job as a leading man, he is a solid black actor who could be somewhere between Washington and Snipes in terms of abilities and genre. LL Cool J does a good job, enjoying himself playing a bad guy. He is actually quite a good actor simply because he picks projects that don't stretch his abilities. Long is a beautiful woman but is wasted in a pointless role here – she is worthy of more. Support cast includes a long line of rappers & cameos etc who do reasonable jobs – Sticky Fingaz is perfect in this type of role (albeit perpetuating a stereotype) and other faces include Pam Grier, Nas, Dupri and Mya.Overall this is a surprisingly enjoyable film that is criminally underwatched. While not original it is solidly good fun and well made with the cast giving enjoyable performances.

A superb, tense thriller that can be placed alongside "Donnie Brasco" (I mean, of course, Agent Joseph Pistone's book, not the dreadful movie, full of lies and awful changes, that was "based" on it). "In Too Deep" is powerful, dark, gripping and keeps you in uncertainty of what's going to happen till the very end. A very realistic experience, with attention paid to the tiniest details and legalities - this isn't your average stupid Tarantino flick where undercover cops go around happily shooting anyone they want whenever they feel like it; this feels almost *real*! I doubt if the movie was actually based on a true story of an undercover policeman (unless the "story" is the obvious fact that thousands of policemen risk their lives every month working undercover all over the world), but if anything like it ever happened, you can safely bet that it happened exactly the way the movie tells it. Highly recommended, especially for anyone interested in true crime. I hope it comes out on DVD, with extras and specials - this movie deserves it. If while reading "Donnie Brasco" (NOT while watching its stupid film version...) you ever wondered what it would be like if moved to the 1990s, "In Too Deep" will answer your questions! (By the way, have you noticed that "God" looks somewhat like a thin Suge Knight, while J-Reed looks a bit like an older version of Tupac Shakur...?)