Cover Up

The stage curtains open ...

"Cover-Up", starring Dolph Lundgren as an ex-Marine turned journalist named Mike Anderson, and Louis Gossett Jr. as CIA agent, Lou Jackson, relies heavily on plot in a film that is more of a mind game than an action-thriller. Not your usual Lundgren film, it finds him playing detective in a race against time.

When a U.S. naval military base is bombed in Israel, Anderson is sent in to investigate and report his findings. While he is there, he runs into some familiar faces from his past, including his old flame, Susan Clifford, who is now working for the U.S. Embassy. As he digs deeper into the mystery behind the bombing which killed American soldiers, he finds that things run much deeper than what is initially believed to be the case. Now, he is in a race against time to prevent the death of thousands of innocent people, including a diabolical plan to do much, much worse.

This really wasn't that bad of a film. I wouldn't put this among Lundgren's best, but at the same time, it is a lot better than some movies he's done. The story is surprisingly intelligent and intricate with strong characters and decent acting. Lundgren really isn't known for his acting chops, but he shows some here and knows how to rein things in to keep in character and avoid becoming bigger than the story. The ending is a little hazy ... and without giving anything away, all I will say is that it's hard to tell if Mike Anderson survives the ordeal or not. I guess you would have to watch it to decide for yourself.

Even though the movie plays out well, it is still not one I would necessarily recommend. I feel that if you are a Dolph Lundgren fan and haven't yet seen this movie, you would probably enjoy it - keeping in mind that it is low on action and high on political intrigue. I think I would watch this again though. I had a good enough time to say that overall, it was enjoyable.

Great rainy day film, and a gem from this period.

Not sure about the low ratings -- this is a solid action movie, and more, it's far more intelligent than a lot of similar movies from that time. An interesting, rather complex plot, and it's good and dark, something many of those other films lack.

I really liked the ending as well, not really what one expects from this kind of film and the final shot is quite memorable.

As far as this era of action films go, its an 8. In the bigger picture, still gets a six from me for being above average. Which is saying a lot, because most of these 80's/90's mercenary/military movies are 4's.

I first saw this on a tape of old cheesy movies a friend had made when they were a kid, and was surprised and thoroughly enjoyed it. I remember being quite creeped out during a scene where you see the effects of a deadly nerve gas on people. Check it out.

'Cover-Up' starts with a slow title sequence meant to build atmosphere, but it's a low budget tactic. Prolong the running time and give you the sense that the following flick is going to be intriguing. It's really not. Ultimately Dolph Lundgren & Lou Gossett Jr reteam after 'The Punisher' for a thriller going thru the motions light on fun.

An attack at a US Naval base in Israel supposedly by the terrorist group "Black October" leaves servicemen dead, but is really a cover for a high grade bio weapon to be stolen. Reporter Mike Anderson (Lungren) then covers the story and when he starts to get too close to the bottom of things attempts are made on his life. Its unclear too what side Jackson (Gossett) the local US official in charge is on.

There's some b-movie charm here ... cliches you would say. Mike is a well known, likable guy. Plus he's an ex marine. He's good friends with Col. Cooper (John Finn) the man in charge of running the US base. He's also the ex lover of a civilian bureaucrat Susan Clifford (Lisa Berkely). He loses a game of pool purposely to gain info and after its shown how he's actually really good at the game. That sort of nonsense.

If you follow the trail, you can figure out who the bad guy is early on. Strictly mediocre, but not like 'Cover-Up' ever tries to be something it ain't. Fans of Lundgren & Gossett don't have much to sink their teeth into. Although the element of watching Dolph try to talk and bribe a hotel desk clerk who's already dead was amusing.

This is a fairly well written and involving thriller. Unfortunately its good early work is slightly let down by either obvious or absurd twists in the final 15 minutes. Before the slightly disappointing ending the film moves along nicely, and the script is developing well, while there aren't too many B-movie cliches, such as the obligatory sex scene, between a recently widowed woman and the central character. This was Dolph Lundgrens first real move away from the action genre and he gives his first decent lead performance, he has more than 3 lines of dialogue as well, but he does fairly well. The film unfortunately looks very cheap but the direction from Manny Coto is functional and well paced, while the action scenes are good, including a trademark Vic Armstrong car chase. ***

Mike Anderson (Dolph Lungren) is an ex-marine reporter sent by the LA time to Tel Aviv to investigate the recent bombing of a US army base. There he meets his mate Cooper, who has now hooked up with Mike's ex. Mike sense that something isn't right with this attack, and he's right. A nerve gas has been stolen that can kill up to a square mile of people and it seems a shadowy group called Black October have stolen it. Mike sets out to find out what's up with the whole deal, and just exactly what Lou Gossett Junior has to do with it all.

Low on action but high in covert shenanigans, Cover Up is helped greatly by the fact that Lungren, unlike a lot of action stars, is also quite a likable actor to boot. Here he doesn't have too much to do except snoop around, avoid the CIA, and avoid being killed by assassins, but he does find time to sleep with his widowed ex, get into a car chase, and seemingly get into a very violent fight with an actor who greatly resembles Italian b-movie star John Stiener (who, in some sort of time slip, travelled forward in time from a movie set in Rome to kick Dolph's head in - weird).

There's your usual double and triple crosses, plus, for an action hero, Dolph really takes his licks here. I liked it for what it was, and when violence appears it's quite strong. Not bad for something to pass the time.