Cover
Metascore
30 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 5 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 5
  3. Negative: 3 out of 5
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  1. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Chuck Wilson
    40
    This is a weirdly schizophrenic movie, one that's light on the murder mystery and heavy on the sermonizing.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    40
    The sledgehammer message is clear: Best friends can help when you need a McMansion, but only God can help when your husband needs a man.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    38
    So overwrought that it quickly crosses the line into unintentionally funny and never recovers.
  4. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    30
    While this actor-filmmaker has delivered such worthy films as "A Rage in Harlem" and "Deep Cover" in the past, this misbegotten effort would be instantly forgettable if not for its potential as future camp classic.
  5. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    25
    Featuring eyeball-rolling performances by Vivica A. Fox, Patti LaBelle, Clifton Davis and the singularly named Leon, Cover would be a candidate for the year's most unintentionally funny movie so far - if it weren't also the most homophobic.

User Reviews

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User Score
5.3 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 3 out of 4
  1. ChadS.
    1
    Before Valerie Maas(Aunjanue Ellis) departs for the hotel where her husband is conducting his extra-marital affair, at that very moment as she sits behind the wheel while the engine's running, Zahara(Vivica A. Fox) makes a bad situation worse by handing her best friend a gun. That makes absolutely no sense at all. Valerie doesn't need a gun; she needs Zahara to accompany her. If Valerie pulled the trigger, she'd be charged with premeditated murder. The prosecution team would have no problem establishing motive. So it got me thinking. Since we know what surprise awaits Valerie, maybe the film, on some subconscious level, wants him dead, too. This scene plays like a rupture in the text. "Cover" is supposed to speak out against homophobia, but maybe the writer's heart really isn't in the film's dominant ideology. That's why he'd write such a poorly conceived scene, by which a woman would give her friend a firearm, supposedly, in the name of self-defense. That's why the church plays such an important role here. "Cover" pretends to be one of the tolerant church ladies, but they're the film's cover for the truth; this melodramatic film is actually on the side of the intolerant church ladies, who think a man like Dutch shouldn't be welcome inside their house of worship. A difference in opinion about the film's subject matter must be the reason why the tone of "Cover" is uneven, to say the least.… Full Review »
  2. JayH.
    3
    3.5/10. Preachy African American melodramatics, loses it's moral focus and wanders aimlessly across the screen. Amusing in ways that were not intended, it's a silly mess that appears thrown together without much guidance.… Full Review »
  3. TaraS.
    8
    At least this film has something to say for a change....the homophobic macho culture for black males needs to wake up. black heterosexual females in this country have the highest infection rate for HIV and aids .… Full Review »
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