Bill Duke directs a brooding, stylish exploration of a man who stares into the abyss for too long. Laurence Fishburne plays an undercover cop who becomes hopelessly entwined in the drug world. His predicament is summed up in one of his voiceovers: "Was I a cop pretending to be a drug dealer or a drug dealer pretending to be a cop?" Both Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum deliver possibly their best performances in a movie with great character development. By the end of the film, these men are forever changed. The director takes us into well-worn movie territory with this story of the undercover cop, but he does it brilliantly.

Nate Grover