Having witnessed his junkie father killed Russell Stevens grows up to become a policeman and make a difference. When he is offered an undercover job by Gerald Carver he accepts and begins to build a relationship with David Jason in order to get to the main dealers. However as he is forced to deal drugs and kill to keep his cover he finds the lines between cop and criminal being lost – is he a cop pretending to be a dealer or a dealer pretending to be a cop Larry (as he was then) Fishburne's first lead role was a typically dark vehicle. The story is the usual one of cop losing himself when undercover, however it manages to be more than that for most of the time. Co-written by Tolkin, who wrote The Player, this naturally has a nice cynical edge to it when it looks at the US's hypocritical approach to drug control and the political links between the street hustlers and the political high rollers who court respectability. The story does eventually settle into a traditional setting but even then it works well as a thriller. The multi-talented Bill Duke directs well with a gritty feel and a few nice touches. However several things are a bit iffy. For most of the film Fishburne's narration/voice over is a bit like a cross between Apocalypse Now and Blade Runner – it comes across as a little too dark and heavy and also explains things like we can't figure it out ourselves. However once you get into the film it's not as big a deal. My main problem lies with the characters. Fishburne is excellent, a real model of underlying anger and violence, Goldblum is good but perhaps a little OTT on the yuppie/violence thing, but there's good support from Smith and Spin City's beautiful (and often underused – but not here) Victoria Dillard. However the two main white characters (Goldblum and Smith) are both smeared with racist insinuations – Smith appears to insult his black officers and doesn't care about the junkies, while Goldblum is fascinated about all things black and talks about them as wild beautiful beasts and loves having sex with "black'. These things aren't a major problem, but with basically only two white characters in it, it's a little worrying that both are given that edge. However these are minor complaints that get lost with a good thriller. Fishburne excels and Duke delivers a story that is a good thriller but also has a jaded, subversive edge.
这是《黑客帝国》里出尽风头的劳伦斯·菲什伯恩第一次担当电影主角，定海神针般的表演让人过目难忘。他饰演名叫罗素的警察，童年目睹吸毒的父亲抢劫时被击毙，因此留下的阴影让他对毒品深恶痛绝，也塑造了他近乎偏执的正义感。
命运弄人，上司偏偏看中他，说他性格测试得分像罪犯，骨子里不信任权威，愤怒又压抑，当卧底简直是量身定做。于是，罗素摇身变成毒贩，一头扎进洛杉矶的毒品泥潭里。
罗素从街头小买家做起，攀上杰夫·高布伦演的疯癫律师兼毒贩大卫，在地下王国的权力世界迅速攀爬崛起，竟然一路爬到南美大毒枭的门口。表面看这是个标准的卧底爬梯子故事，可以拍得纸醉金迷风生水起，但电影始终揪住罗素年幼的心理折磨不放。他每一次向犯罪行为的妥协，每一次被迫举枪甚至杀人，都像钝刀子割肉。你能清晰看到他笑容下的挣扎，警徽在暗袋里发烫，提醒他底线正一寸寸失守。
尤其在电影第二幕结尾，当他发现自己被上司出卖，政府真正的目标根本不是清扫街头，而是为了政治利益操控南美毒品网络时，他的信仰崩塌感足以穿透银幕。
跟罗素的低调稳重形成对比的是大卫，像只华丽的孔雀，满嘴荒诞台词，被警车追捕时还在慢条斯理地折磨和铲除仇家，不忘黑色幽默地提议一起吃饭吃虾，其嚣张跋扈大有漫画中的小丑之风。这种神经质的张扬原本容易过火，但跟罗素压抑气场形成对照，一个在道德沼泽下沉，一个在疯狂边缘跳舞，反而有了意外的写实质感。
导演比尔·杜克明晃晃致敬四十年代黑色电影，霓虹灯是城市的伤口，把街道染成蓝绿或猩红。罗素时不时响起的画外音冷静得像在读诗，又像深夜电台的独白。这种设计不单为怀旧，还巧妙地把一场缉毒行动拔高成了当代都市寓言。毒品链条顶端坐着政客，街头少年却在为碎银搏命，所谓的正义荒唐得像个笑话。
电影诞生在1992年洛杉矶暴动前夕，罗德尼·金被警察殴打的新闻全美沸腾，而警察最终无罪释放的判决，直接点燃了街头怒火，这种愤怒的焦糊味弥漫在每一帧画面里。罗素作为黑人警察，夹在体制与社区之间，内心时刻角力，他克制的肢体语言不断暴露着汹涌的内心。当他质问白人上司为何纵容毒品流入黑人社区，当他看着孩子拿起枪像当年父亲一样走向末路，电影也跳出了简单的警匪片格局，变成一纸种族控诉。
影片中大卫跟南美政客交易时，有句台词点透了本质：别分什么美国人外国人黑人白人了，现在只有富人和穷人，我们都是富人，所以是一伙的。这话就像一根针，挑破了美国梦的脓包。而罗素虽然最终在听证会曝光了政客阴谋，电影的情绪却没有因此显得阳光起来。最后一幕的罗素穿着西装走过墓地，像个战败的贵族，他的旁白忧伤无奈，他的坚持与幻灭都写在落寞的身影里。