Better Late Then Never

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Rookie cop Jeffrey Cole (Omar Epps) works in the narco unit and shows skills posing in the drug world. Preston D'Ambrosio (Stanley Tucci) is the captain. Dwayne Gittens (LL Cool J) is the leader of a drug gang calling himself God. Jeff goes undercover as J.Reid to take down God. He gets introduced by Breezy T (Hill Harper) and befriends the headman. He proves himself in a drive-by and deliberately missing shooting seemingly wildly. Things don't go smoothly when God's men try to rob him. Jeff fights back and shoots them.It's not flashy. It's not original. I like Omar Epps. I like Stanley Tucci. I especially like the fact that Jeff's handler Preston is much more by the book. I like that the story takes place in Cincinnati rather the normal NYC or other bigger iconic cities. The pose-a-thon normal for this genre is kept down... except for LL Cool J. There is something about him that always seems Hollywood. He never seems like a real gangster to me but rather posing as one. That's OK to a point. I can't fault a gangster who calls himself God for some Hollywood posing. Omar Epps is great and he shows that he has the acting skills. This is a gritty urban black version of many movies everybody has seen before. It would even be better if the ending was more compelling and more gritty. It ends without much drama.

Michael Rymers look at an undercover cop infiltrating a east coast drug lord is unrealistic, at times entertaining but all-together only average. omar Epps is decent in the lead role, but LL Cool J's performance as the drug lord wasn't the best. Nia Long was nice eye candy and Stanley Tucci and Pam Grier were good enough in there roles. THis film isn't the most realistic though at times obviously drastic. THe screenplay is decent but the sequences of events indicated in it are just not what goes on. There's better films out there in this genre such as New Jack City and great stuff like Donnie Brasco. THis movie is only avearge 7/10

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.