Being Single

What is the difference between a movie like “Why Did I Get Married” and a Pastor Bimbo Odukoya sermon? One tells you the story and allows you to extract the message, one tells you the message and permits you to apply your own stories. Some movies though are simply a sermon and seem to have lost that entertainment factor about them in all their preachiness. Being Single is one of those movies.

Being Single is the story of a young professional who is in love with a philandering boyfriend. The twist is that this philandering philander’s ways (I could have used different words, I know!) are not unknown to his girlfriend played by Bellinda Effah. In fact, she hired a private detective so she is not only aware of his ways but also has proof. However, she refuses to leave him which annoys her best friend, played by Meg Otanwa.

So here we have two couples Meg Otanwa & Ken Erics and Bellinda Effah & Okey Uzoeshi. Okey’s character is cheating on his girlfriend, Belinda. Meg’s character is annoyed by this and tries desperately to get her friend to see the light and leave her man. Meg therefore devices a “genius” plan that involves spying on each other’s boyfriends.

The story sounds like an excellent entertainer on paper except the execution falls short in a few ways. First of all, the twist is evident from the get-go so if that was supposed to be suspenseful then it was a failure. Secondly, the dialogues seemed less like interactions and more like sermons. Whenever a character would “conspicuously” insert a line about appreciating your spouse, it was too obvious and preachy.

The performances in this movie were surprisingly inept, especially from the lead females. It is either Meg and Belinda did not bring their A-game, or they were overwhelmed by the guys. This is because it almost seemed like the ladies were dragging their performances and Okey and Ken were the only ones acting in this movie. The most astounding to me was definitely Belinda, that fluidity and conviction was utterly lacking.

The movie drags until about 37 minutes in and then it truly starts. The production quality of the movie could also have used some assistance especially in regards to the score and sound effects which were simply overly dramatic.

The movie had good intentions but the execution was nothing short of a rough draft.