Message To Mary
Queen Nwokoye, Artus Frank, Oge Okoye, Ebele Okaro, Frederick Leonard,
A village girl befriends and hosts a man that she finds lying wounded and bloody in a forest, unaware if the danger he is running from
This movie has two parts: Message to Mary 1 & 2
Theodore Anyanji
Kingsley Okereke
Chisom Juliet Okereke
2013
Acting, Themes
Lack of originality
This movie is based on a very old song by the Everly brothers so it loses all the points for originality. It’s even called the same thing as the song. The song is really old and does have a good story to it. However the movie botches it up, I didn’t connect them until the end of the movie and when I did I could see just how good it could have been.
The plot was long and arduous. It didn’t need to go on for so long. It’s not new in any way shape or form, having being done before in all movie industries. Admittedly adding the plot element of widowhood and juju was new; those elements themselves are not new though. The whole movie has a cloud of seen that seen that. It moved slowly, the story moved slowly, the characters themselves moved slowly. The characters were not likeable, or relatable. The film invites you to feel sympathy for the kidnapper but he just murdered some man in cold blood. What I did like was how it re-examined that age old reason given by armed robbers, kidnappers and the like. I thought it was a great exploration on how some people’s minds can be fixated on a particular side of the story. The end tries to stick close to the song, but it fails on so many levels: first the man in the song gets sentenced to jail for life so his actions are justified, but here its only five years. She can wait. Secondly it intended to evoke the same emotions but the situations were completely different.
Is it me or is Frank Artus getting better? He was actually dare I say good. But don’t quote me on that. Queen Nwokoye is an actress that I can’t really tell if she can actually act. So she delivers but it’s not impactful, it’s just motions on a screen. Oge Okoye is keeping up the good work and I think she gave a good performance here- I want to believe that both this film and Family Man take place in the same village; after all she has the same name and hair style. Frederick Leonard was brilliant, that man is going places. He was enjoyably dark and intimidating. Extras were good as well especially the mother.
The audio was really bad; at times you couldn’t hear what the characters were saying. You can pretty much guess what is happening but it would be nice to hear. The costumes and wardrobe was very interesting to look at especially regarding Frank Artus and his gang.
In conclusion, it is a fairly interesting film and while I won’t recommend it per say I won’t discourage anyone from watching it. Its suspenseful enough it’s just so slow. The comments on this movie are hilarious, you don’t even know.
Sisters at War
Bloody Night
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I did watch the movie and even though I do not exactly agree verbatim with Mimi’s review. It’s not that far fetched, the movie is ok but not that great
TO NR READERS,
I’ve followed many of the comments on this post and have decided to watch the movie myself. If you notice this review was done by Ms. Mimi. If I watch the movie and my opinions are very different from Mimi’s the review will be edited and republished (you will get a notification in your news feed if you’re following NR).
Thanks.
OK NR and Mimi – Hello, Hello! I don’t know a lot of people who compare a movie to the lyrics of its theme song (especially when they don’t really know the lyrics or the song). If they are listening THAT intently, then they should be writing a script themselves. I thought this movie was very good. In fact, it is one of the few on Iroko where there is real drama executed where characters seem to be connected, with all of the actors portraying their roles well. I don’t know what the measuring stick is that you use to determine good or great acting, but I would definitely say that Queen Nwokoye played her part well. In fact, I would say she was excellent. I was truly feeling for her at the end, and her true love for this man. I think that the story was actually one of suspense, as we never really knew what the reality was regarding Frank’s character until toward the end, except that with the help of F. Leonard (who was excellent), we knew it was a bit shady. Other than some faulty production elements in some places, like the sound, I think the story was able to hold the audience and keep us intrigued about the characters and their journey. Oge I loved, as always, as well as the woman who played the mother. So far, this movie, “Family Man”, and “Angelina” are the movies that I find are ‘must watch’ movies. Much respect to you and your opinion Mimi. 🙂
Love reading your posts but i think Queen Nwokoye was brilliant and infant generally, has actually been very good. She’s quite underrated i’d say.. For me she stole the show in the movie.. Sorry im digressing her a little haha.. but i can never forget her performance in “Speak the word”.. One of the best performance by a Nigerian actress IMO.. Queen is brill!
Ok,i was actually decieved by ur review of this movie so I looked at the comments on Iroko tv and my God it has a wonderful review from people who actually watched it.Over hundred people can’t be wrong.Almost all of them loved Queen Nwokoye’s acting. So I am definitely watching the movie. Sometimes I wonder if u actually watch movies critically or u just review based on favouritism. Again,that u don’t like a movie does not mean that it is not good.Everyone musnt like d same thing.
No, everyone most definitely must not like the same thing. Variety, they say, is the spice of the world and that’s why NR operates on a double ratings system. The NR reviewers give their opinions but the viewers also rate it (on top of the full review you’ll see the spot) and that quite frankly carries more weight in my opinion.
I think it’s different people that review movies here and pretend to be one person bcos the reviews and statements are most times contradictory. For me,all the cast were awesome especially frank Artus and Queen Nwokoye. I really love Queen’s acting.She is natural. Oge okoye was good too.
Hey Henry, there are different reviewers on NR with different perspectives if you look at the bottom of the reviews you will see the author.