Front Cover is a 2015 American romanticcomedy-drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Ray Yeung. It stars Jake Choi and James Chen, with Elizabeth Sung, Ming Lee, Jennifer Neala Page, Sonia Villani, and Li Jun Li in supporting roles. It follows an openly gay New York City fashion stylist who, rejecting his traditional Asian upbringing, is assigned to style a famous Beijing actor for an important photo shoot for his firm.
Front Cover tells the story of Ryan Fu, a gay Chinese American who rejects his Asian heritage and has learned to suppress it to climb up the social ladder. Through talent and hard work he attains his dream job as an assistant to Francesca, a celebrity fashion stylist. One day Francesca assigns Ryan to style Ning, an actor who has just arrived from Beijing, for a top magazine photo shoot. Ning dismisses Ryan's initial Western styling and demands Ryan create an image for him that represents the power of the new China. Their opinions clash, resulting in a strained working relationship.
Over the following days, they socialize while working together and discover not only do they have a lot in common, a mutual attraction begins to develop. As they get closer, Ryan reveals that he detests his Chinese heritage because he is ashamed of his impoverished upbringing. Ning also opens up and confesses that he is closeted. As they fall in love, a Chinese tabloid magazine exposes Ning as gay. Terrified of the impact it will have on his career, Ning begs Ryan to lie for him at a press conference. Ryan must now decide whether to help Ning or stay true to himself.[3]
In September 2015, Strand Releasing acquired North American distribution rights to the film,[7][8] while Edko Films picked up Hong Kong and Macau distribution rights.[9][10] It was theatrically released in New York City on August 5, 2016, in Los Angeles on August 12,[11] and in Hong Kong on October 25.[6]
Reception
Box office
Front Cover grossed $26,409 in the United States,[2] and earned an additional $57,832 in domestic video sales.[12]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10.[13]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[14]
Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times stated, "Front Cover still strains to surmount its thin narrative and unfortunate dips into clichéd cultural comedy. Yet the acting is reserved and sincere, the two leads exhibiting a believable attraction that Mr. Yeung takes care not to disrupt."[15] Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times described the film as "a root-worthy picture with its share of warm, amusing moments, an attractive pair of leads and a vivid use of Big Apple locales."[16] Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post gave it 2 out of 4 stars and opined, "Front Cover is weighed down by heavy-handed dialogue and a melodramatic score."[17] Edmund Lee of the South China Morning Post gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and concluded his review by writing, "Front Cover does deliver as a nice little romantic comedy with a pair of endearing leads."[18] Godfrey Cheshire of RogerEbert.com gave it 3 out of 4 stars and remarked, "Yeung's [screenplay] is subtle and assured, tracing an emotional arc that's believably nuanced." Cheshire also praised Choi and Chen for their "exceptionally strong lead performances."[19]
Accolades
Awards
Best Screenplay, FilmOut San Diego Film Festival, 2016[20]
Jury Award Best Domestic Feature, Outflix Film Festival Memphis, 2016[21]
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