Cover
Review By: Melody Charles
Duplicity, deceit, madness and murder. These salacious scenarios occur so often that they are easily taken for granted, but what happens when the lies and the drama perch themselves on your doorstep and threaten your family? That's what unfolds in Cover, a film using a competent script, star power (Aunjanue Ellis, Vivica Fox, Leon) and laser-precise direction by Bill Duke (Deep Cover, Hoodlum) to illustrate a simple point; sometimes it's hard to know where---or who---your real enemies are.
Cover moves with stealth and speed from the very first frame, depicting an execution-style murder by an unknown assailant of a popular R&B crooner (Leon) with a penchant for using and abusing lovers. An explosive tug-of-war ensues between an ambitious D.A. (Clifton Davis) and his lone suspect (Ellis) in a search for the truth. On one hand, she's married to a successful psychiatrist, a mother to a precocious preteen and without a prior record, but on the other hand, she also has motive, opportunity, and her own fingerprints all over the weapon. What unfolds over the next 98 minutes is her heart-breaking---and harrowing---tale of how her once-idyllic home and marriage disintegrated under the weight of her husband's lies.
What makes the film work, besides the quality of the filming, is the authenticity of the screenplay and its characters; everyone's wondered about, if not experienced, the scarcity of faithful spouses, hypocrisy displayed by the moral majority and the sometimes-deadly risks involved. And who doesn't know a ride-or-die best friend (Fox), a wily backstabber (played by Paula Jai Parker) or someone with ulterior motives playing both sides of the fence (Leon)?
Cover is rated PG-13 for "mature thematic material, sexual situations and language, violence and some drug content" and comes highly recommended for a weekend rental or space on your own DVD shelf (it was just released in May). There are moments of tenderness and laugh-out-loud humor, but Cover's purpose----igniting discussion about life, love and relationships---will not be denied. For even more information, peep the website at coverthemovie.com.
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