One Last Word

So this was Eucharia Anunobi’s comeback. While she was great in it, the movie itself wasn’t as great. There were great performances, great production values and great visuals-really really crisp and clear and just all around beautiful- but the story is so underwhelming.

At first glance the story is interesting enough, it’s intriguing and while not exactly new it is always a pleaser. The opening scene is very intense and immediately captures your interest. There are very interesting parallels drawn between the main characters life and the movies he directs, impressively shown by Majid Michael. However it focused on too many storylines and really neglected the main storyline. There was way too much footage about the doctors, his girlfriend and his mother and even then it wasn’t fully explored, we are only given annoying glimpses. The love story between the producer and the doctor came literally out of nowhere, there was little believable build up and seemed shoe horned in. I respect the angle they were going with and the attempt to subvert our expectations and all that…but it needed more build-up. Some of the characters made little to no sense, especially  the fiancée. She was almost cartoonishly evil; there was no reason why she would act in a certain way or why the man was even with her. The summation of the plot is that it tries but only manages to hold minimal interest.

It’s been the year of Majid Michel; in fact it’s been The Year of Majid Michel since he came onto the scene and every time it is always clear why. The man is just pure brilliance; even with his tendency to talk a bit too fast at time. Eucharia was great, some readjustment issues but still she was great. Despite what the plot summary wants you to think, her role was not really challenging. The performances in this movie was not what was wrong with it, they were all stellar and had great chemistry. I loved the bit about the actress that couldn’t act properly, if only more films took this too heart.

The directing on the other hand left much to be desired, the scene changes were too fast and too abrupt. It felt like the film was running and yet it still felt too long. There was too much and too little at the same time, I kept checking how long was left. The soundtrack was absolutely gorgeous and used so masterfully. On the other hand the common Nollywood problem reared its ugly head again, sometimes the background music/musical score was too loud. This was problematic in two ways, first of all you can’t hear what the actors are actually saying and secondly the type of music used-loud and intense piano- starts to really grate on the ear.

In conclusion, while it is quite clear that this is not one of the best films ever directed by Desmond Elliot, I would recommend it but only in a watch when you need something in the background while doing something else. It is too long and not fulfilling enough to get a full recommendation. Majid Michel’s hair…should we say anything?