'Deep Cover' Review: Crime-Comedy With Orlando Bloom and Bryce Dallas Howard Falls Flat
- Dan Bremner
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
By Dan Bremner - June 6, 2025
Having not heard of this until almost a week ago, finding myself at Deep Cover’s world premiere at SXSW London 2025 was a nice treat, especially with Orlando “Legolas” Bloom, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Nick Mohammed hyping it up in person at The Barbican Centre.
Despite the stacked cast and a premise ripe for black-comedy thrills, this streaming-bound crime caper left me cold. Like most disposable streaming originals, it squanders its unique improv-acting gimmick, feeling almost as bland as The Electric State or Red Notice, feeling like mere background noise for scrolling your life away on social media until you die.
What is 'Deep Cover' About?
The story follows Kat (Bryce Dallas Howard), an improv teacher doubting her big break, roped into a police sting by a gruff cop (Sean Bean). She recruits her students, Marlon (Orlando Bloom) and Hugh (Nick Mohammed), to pose as criminals in London’s underworld, where their “yes, and…” instincts spiral into chaos. The premise could have been a Coen-esque farce, like Fargo’s idiots-in-crime vibe, but it’s painfully unfunny, with a ridiculous plot that grows moronic as the trio digs deeper into violence and stupid choices. A few scenarios, like Kat hiding her undercover antics from friends who think she’s a drug addict, spark briefly, but the black-comedy crime premise fizzles fast.
The cast is the sole bright spot, though wasted on dreadful material. Bloom stands out as Marlon, his charisma carrying scenes, diving into a hard cockney criminal persona, while Howard’s Kat and Mohammed’s Hugh share solid chemistry, their improv banter occasionally clicking. Still, the script’s flat jokes and thin roles hold them back, leaving their talents underused. It’s a shame to see such potential squandered.
Supporting players like Ian McShane’s over-the-top gangster and Paddy Considine’s forgettable crook add little. McShane hams it up to parody levels, while Considine’s role barely registers, both victims of a script that prioritizes chaos over depth. Sean Bean’s thick accent also renders his dialogue near-incomprehensible at times, muffling key scenes and adding to the mess.
Deep Cover’s Flat Direction and Forgettable Visuals
Director Tom Kingsley leans on his Stath Lets Flats roots, feeling flat and uninspired with a look that does not feel cinematic. Even on a big screen with hundreds cheering, it feels like a streaming cheapie, with lifeless London locales and uninspired framing that is impossible to differentiate from countless pieces of content on streaming. The visuals lack the punch needed for a crime-comedy, making every shot feel like a placeholder for something better. Deep Cover joins the forgettable pile of originals that will be added to “Watch Later” and then instantly forgotten.
The action perks up sporadically, offering grim surprises amid the comedy. These bursts of violence, tied to the trio’s escalating blunders, are the film’s most memorable moments, though they’re too sparse to save the slog. At its best, the improv gimmick shines, like Kat’s drug-addict ruse or the trio outwitting criminals by acting, but it’s woefully underused, appearing in just a handful of standout scenes. It's a tricky thing to have written dialogue for characters that are meant to be improvising and riffing, but sadly, it doesn't payoff here.
Deep Cover is a thoroughly disappointing crime-comedy that wastes a talented cast and a promising improv premise on painfully unfunny material and flat direction. Orlando Bloom’s charm and rare bursts of laughs can’t save a ridiculous, moronic plot that feels like disposable streaming noise. You’ll forget it the second the credits roll, just like nearly every streaming original.
'Deep Cover' releases on Prime Video June 12
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