Covering Cover: the downlow on Bill Duke's new thriller

The film Cover, which opens in limited release this weekend, is a curious film with a marketing campaign that could potentially leave gay communities scratching their heads. While the preview for the movie makes the film out to be a run-of-the-mill tawdry revenge thriller, the film is actually something very different.

Cover is really about the "downlow" lifestyle, and deals extensively with gay men, men who identify as straight but have sex with men, homophobia within African-American religious communities, and much more. Not exactly the kinds of things you'd expect to be wrapped up in what's being marketed as a formulaic murder mystery.

I had the chance to see the film and speak with director Bill Duke, and our article on the film will run upon its release on Friday. And to be honest, the formula of the film and the rather sensationalistic way that the gay element is introduced makes Cover a bit tricky to ... well ... cover.

But as some gay journalists (lesbian writer Jasmyne Cannick, most notably) are discussing the otherwise rather below-the-GAYDAR film, I wanted to run the preview and see what people thought.

Any reactions based on the trailer above? Would you be surprised to learn that it was for a film that is very much about men who have sex with men?