Mama G Goes Mad

For those expecting a detailed look at mental illness and how it affects those around the mentally ill, this film is not for you. For those expecting laugh out loud antics from Patience Ozokwor, this film is not for you. Ultimately go into it expecting a semi coherent juju film.

With a heavy reliance on flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks, the story isn’t all too bad and because of its use of flashbacks it is not as predictable as it would be if it were linear so it was a great narrative device. However it still dragged at times and took some time to get to its point. The characters were interesting and they had chemistry although most did illogical and very violent activities. The use of ghosts and dreams were a bit convenient and sometimes stupid- there was no need to have dreams especially when you are going to ignore that it is a dream. There were definite flashes of brilliance here and there but not in the screenplay, rather in the story.

Let’s talk about Mike Ezuruonye, when he first burst into the scene he was just an angry one note actor but he has really challenged himself these days and was very good here. Hopefully he gets more complex roles where he can show his acting chops. Patience Ozokwor was excellent, acting in a way that was just right. Her performance wasn’t over the top neither was it offensive or stereotypical. The other actors, that played the younger characters were ok, not good this must be quantified but average. Can one ever say anything bad about Olu Jacobs, that man owns every role he plays regardless of the quality of the character?

Special effects were average, it wasn’t awe inspiring but it did not pull you completely out of the film.  It came close though. Props didn’t inspire and the soundtrack was mildly amusing at the beginning but the use of auto tune means it starts to grate.

In conclusion, this one is average however it is interesting and makes an engaging watch. It won’t be winning awards but it is worth watch. With a more intriguing plot and better special effects it could have been something. Maybe I am just fatigued with juju plots, it’s time to accept that mental illness is not always juju.