Lonely Heart

I’ve been reviewing Nollywood movies for about 2 years now so you can say that I haven’t watched many Nollywood movies in all that time.

Sounds contradictory? But watching a movie and reviewing a movie are two completely different experiences one can only hope to actually watch the movie before the review. And it doesn’t necessarily follow that the better the movie is, the more likely it is to get watched as opposed to dissected.

However, for this movie I watched the entire thing from start to finish; only when I got to the end did I realize that I was supposed to review it. And this is not to say that this movie is one of the best to ever have been produced, but it’s simply an entirely watchable romantic comedy.

The movie stars a mix of the usual royal arts academy stars with a welcome supplement of regular Nollywood actors. There were really two categories of actors in this movie: those who could definitely act and were killing it and those who tried.

Desmond Elliot was fantastic as a lover boy, I was thrilled to see him in a role without any crises, no dilemmas, no headaches, plain and simple and now I remember why Mr. Elliot has such a huge appeal.

Ini stole the screen from her first scene which sees her yelling commands to her cast and crew, in her directorial role. It’s a different role for Ini, and that fact kind of shocks the viewer into sitting back just to see her in this new light. Her character, however, has two aspects and even though she’s a fierce and commanding Nollywood director she’s also a wife facing some struggles at home. Ini convincingly pulls off both roles very tactfully.

Uche is featured sparingly in this movie but she definitely owns her character as a drug addict, and manages to be endearing and amusing at the same time.

I think I just might be in love with Okey Uzoeshi. Seeing him on screen, one would think he has been acting for years now (maybe he has, maybe he hasn’t) but he displays such effortless fluidity in capturing the essence of his character.

And on to those who tried, Perez Egbi is a Nollywood USA actor who seems to be threading the Chet Anekwe path by coming back home. I’m really not certain yet where I stand with him because I absolutely abhored him in all NollyUSA movies I ever saw him in. I was also entirely irritated by him in this movie, but I’m not certain if it was his character that irked me (which would make him a good actor) or an extension of my previous dislike. Whatever the case, Perez held his own in this movie and definitely ‘tried’ for lack of a better word.

In the beginning I thought Belinda was fantastic. She seemed effortless at first but at times she seemed a bit too staged and then she’d fall back into great acting then more lapses of ‘staged’ acting.

Kenneth Okolie did a fantastic job, in my opinion, probably because his character didn’t require any over-exertion. But I’d be an idiot to deny that his character wasn’t exactly child’s play and Mr. Okolie brought it to the best of his abilities.

There were many guest appearances in this movie but all together it was a highly entertaining well pieced romantic comedy. It’s not going to affect your life tremendously, you probably won’t remember having watched it 2 weeks from now but it’s a simple and entertaining film.

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