Front Cover

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2:24

Front Cover

Released Aug 5, 2016

1h 27m

Romance

Comedy

Drama

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

51%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

A growing friendship between a gay New York fashion stylist (Jake Choi) and a rising Beijing actor (James Chen) turns into romance.

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Stephanie Merry

Washington Post

The film's examination of the first-generation American experience feels fresh. The delivery, however, is hardly original.

Rated: 2/4

Sep 29, 2016

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Gary Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

It's a root-worthy picture with its share of warm, amusing moments, an attractive pair of leads and a vivid use of Big Apple locales.

Aug 11, 2016

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Dennis Harvey

Variety

If there isn't much subtlety or surprise in Yeung's screenplay, his direction is graceful enough to make this a pleasant if unmemorable bittersweet love story.

Aug 5, 2016

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David Lamble

Bay Area Reporter

Combining a hip insider's take on fashionistas with a two-worlds-collide, cute-boys implosion, Front Cover is as current as tomorrow's headlines.

Jun 10, 2020

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Tricia Olszewski

Washington City Paper

These good intentions never translate into a good movie.

Jan 2, 2017

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Edmund Lee

South China Morning Post

For all its awkwardness in bridging the personal and the cultural, Front Cover does deliver as a nice little romantic comedy with a pair of endearing leads.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 25, 2016

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PridePosterStudios

*Fairy Godmother from Shrek* No, no, no, no, no!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/26/24

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Shock Therapy R

As a culture assimilation movie, this one trodded heavily and predictably. It was not sophisticated and nuanced like "Sublet". Instead we had a harsh hypocrisy throughout behind the mask of a commercial sense of success. Even Ryan was handled combatively being fired twice behind the cloak of cut-throat business. So, the undue external influences make for a very contrived movie of martyrs in their chosen roles as ambitious for success… and ambition wins for one, and not the other. This is a trope that we have seen exhaustively. The sexuality was just a prop and an unnecessary aside.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/21/23

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Audience Member

Was impressed by the compelling dramatic storyline. I so wanted Ryan and Ning to finish together. Really sad this didn't happen. The picture is beautiful though!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Audience Member

It's no secret that there is a lack of Asian-American representation in LGBT-related films, so watching Front Cover felt like a breath of fresh air. The story is predictable, and many of the film's comedic beats fall flat, but watching Ryan and Ning's relationship grow is heartwarming and insightful. I like that the film makes an effort to comment on the desexualization of Asian-American men in our media, as well as the microaggressions Asian-American men face in the queer dating scene. The film finds its voice when it is focusing on the relationship between these two men, following them around the city as they talk about family, fashion, sexuality, culture, and more. It stumbles in its story, which feels cliche and awkward at points, but altogether, it succeeds because of the strength of its script and the themes that it dares to explore. Hopefully we'll see more films exploring queer, Asian-American folks in the future.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Audience Member

There isn't much subtlety or surprise in Yeung's screenplay, but his direction is graceful enough to make this a pleasant if unmemorable bittersweet love story.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Audience Member

The characters were believable, and the plot was plausible. And the spaces in between were filled by sweet moments and realistic outcomes.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

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Ray Yeung

Director

Jake Choi

Ryan

James Chen

Ning

Jennifer Neala Page

Janet

Sonia Villani

Francesca

Elizabeth Sung

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Front Cover: Trailer 1

2:24

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Synopsis

A growing friendship between a gay New York fashion stylist (Jake Choi) and a rising Beijing actor (James Chen) turns into romance.

Director: Ray Yeung
Producer: Ray Yeung, Kaer Vanice
Screenwriter: Ray Yeung
Distributor: Strand Releasing
Production Co: NewVoice
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 5, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 18, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $26.3K
Runtime: 1h 27m

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