Jef Taylor’s “Coverage” provides a glimpse into the lives of a couple dealing with the aftermath of the September 11th attacks…albeit in quite an unconventional manner.
David and Lynn are going through a rough patch. He’s lost his job, they are having trouble in bed and things just aren’t clicking. Then the World Trade Center towers fall and David sort of goes off the sexual deep end. Finding himself strangely attracted to the carnage that is displayed 24/7 on the television screen, he begins to fetishize the destruction, gaining sexual pleasure from the images on the screen. As you can imagine, Lynn is not too happy about this.
You have to give this short credit for tackling a tough subject from a unique angle. In a film reminiscent of David Cronenberg’s “Crash,” where people took sexual pleasure in automobile accidents, Taylor attempts to make sense of the senseless by examining one man’s sexual dysfunction in the wake of an act of incomprehensible violence.
It’s an ambitious film that ultimately falls short due largely to the mediocre leads and an overly long running time. In spite of this (and the lurid, sometimes creepy subject matter), Taylor displays a deft touch behind the camera and will certainly be someone to watch in the coming years (especially if he finds a good editor).
