Three improv comedians are hired by the police to perform some low level stings for the cool sum of £200 per job. But when the first job escalates from buying some dodgy cigarettes into becoming embroiled in a cocaine war between the locals and an Albanian gang things start to get out of hand. 

Acting coach Kat (Bryce Dallas Howard) seems to have perpetually missed her big break. After years of coaching actors she never seems to have been discovered herself. With successful friends placing unreasonable demands on her income she welcomes Met Police Officer Billings (Sean Bean) seemingly benign offer of some small undercover stings. But stings apparently work in groups of three so they can watch each other’s backs and with Kat’s best students just signed she has to pick what’s available to her. 

Marlon (Orlando Bloom) is a gritty method actor whose biggest job to date is a pizza advert where he plays a knight. His agent has finally given up on him, “You’re from the Cotswolds, you’re not Al Pacino,” and he needs to try something new. The only issue is that taking everything far too seriously is more than career threatening in this new job. 

Hugh (Nick Mohammed) on the other hand has literally just rolled in to try out improv after constantly being rebuffed by the London bankers he fixes IT for. Can he use improv as a way to relax and make more friends? 

As a group trying to buy some dodgy cigarettes they somehow find themselves in Fly’s (Paddy Considine) gangland hideout and eventually under the nose of the big boss Metcalfe (Ian McShane) as things continue to escalate. 

Deep Cover is a comedy that delivers exactly what Kat prescribes in all of her lessons. Improv is about saying, “Yes, and..” to every situation and occasionally throwing in a grenade to mix things up a bit. And what makes Deep Cover so delightful is that it never seems to shy away from this premise. 

Every single facet of the film wrings out comedy gold. The situations gradually get more and more ludicrous, whilst Kat, Marlon and Hugh hold on to their improv rules. Kat is superb at thinking on her feet and riding out the situations that they get into. Marlon’s obsession with gritty back story and never backing down constantly gets them deeper and deeper into trouble. And Hugh is frankly useless at this improv stuff, but his stiff corporate demeanour is still used with great results in the group.

The creative team even get involved to add further layers of humour with co-writers Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen showing up as the most ordinary of ordinary coppers on the tail of this new criminal gang. A chase sequence involving them and the improv gang on ‘Boris Bikes’ is a particular highlight.

The result is superb without any weak links. I guarantee you will be laughing throughout Deep Cover.