An unsolicited review of 'Deep Cover'
Look. We get it. Improv can be a bit daggy. As a result, it often doesn’t get referenced in popular culture. Or when it does, improv or improvisers are usually the butt of the joke. So when Hollywood (or rather, the streaming arm of an American multinational technology company) deigns to make movie admitting that improvisation skills may actually be useful, we sit up and take notice. And because we have a platform on this, the ‘News’ section of our website, you better believe we’re going to tell you how we feel about improv’s latest turn in the spotlight. You may be surprised to know that the movie does represent a number of key improv concepts.
Deep Cover follows a group of improvisers - improv teacher Kat (Bryce Dallas Howard), nervous newcomer Hugh (Nick Mohammed) and ‘serious actor’ Marlon (a surprisingly hilarious Orlando Bloom) - who are recruited by the police to use their improv skills to infiltrate a criminal organization. While the initial plan is for them to only be involved in a low level sting, the trio bumble their way into the upper echelons of the underworld and have to use their improv skills to make sure they survive in one piece.
This is obviously a silly and absurd premise. No one (and certainly not the film) is suggesting that improvisers should be drafted as undercover agents in real life. When an improviser embraces silliness on stage, they bypass their more critical inner voices and open up to more playful and creative ideas. They can become more relaxed and often produce more engaging performances. In a similar way, the inherent silliness of the premise appears to work in the movie’s favour. The cast of actors appear agreeably relaxed and freewheeling, and we in the audience are more willing to go along with the absurd story because we want to see how it turns out.
While the premise may be absurd (from a real world perspective), the stakes for the characters themselves couldn’t be higher - for if they are found out, then they will be forcibly shuffled off the mortal coil by ruthless gangsters. What usually saves Kat, Hugh and Marlon from an untimely end is their commitment to their gangster personas. The movie also wrings plenty of comedy from such commitment, in particular from Marlon’s penchant for creating an elaborate and needlessly complex backstory for his ‘character’. In lower stakes, real-world improv, commitment is also key for an engaging performance. If you fully commit to a character, a choice, an emotion or a fellow performer’s idea, then you’re much more likely to captivate an audience. It’s a great skill to be able to make choices on stage and confidently stand by them. It’s good to know this will serve us well should we become unwittingly engaged in criminal activity.
Through their commitment to the alter-ego’s and each other, Kat, Hugh and Marlon also demonstrate the “Yes, And” philosophy of improv. “Yes, And” a mindset which requires performers to accept and build upon each other’s ideas and is the foundation of on stage collaboration. The movie’s intrepid trio would no doubt like to be in a position where they can run screaming from their predicament, but they continually step up to both accept and build upon the hurdles that are placed in from of them. This leads to such darkly comic situations such as - “YES I am a notorious gangster AND I will now partake in these illicit substances to prove my bona fides” and “YES I know how to dispose of a body AND I will now grab this chainsaw, cut said body up into small pieces and place it is separate garbage bags to be buried” (side note - probably not a movie for the kids).
So while no one would claim Deep Cover to be the ‘best movie ever’, it does build on core improv concepts to craft an enjoyably comedic film. It would definitely be worth adding to your watchlist for a rainy day.
This article has not been paid for or solicited in any way by Amazon. Although, we have been pretty complementary of the film, so if anyone at Amazon is reading this, we’ll happily take some money. We know you’ve got money Bezos!