Surulere (Patience Pays)

Surulere follows a few days in the life of Arinze. A hustling young man in Lagos who works a dead-end job and owes nearly everyone under the sun. The job he works at has not paid him for what they say is six months but I’d like to point out to be half a year (how are you doing something for half of a year without profit and you’re still doing it). God’s Time (the character of a chemist in this movie – who Arinze obviously also owes money) said it best, “if they are not paying you any money in the job then you don’t have a job”. One day Arinze finds himself in an issue of mistaken identity and decides to take advantage of the situation for his benefit.

The movie starts off at a great pace but after the initial minutes it fizzles out and almost begins to drag. It follows Arinze’s daily unending struggles as if to depict the life of an average man in Lagos and how the ‘wahala never seems to end’ but the fact is that this is still a movie and it still has to have an end.

It’s at this point that we come into that dilemma that we had for Taxi Driver (Oko Ashewo). Because it’s alright to show the average man’s struggle. It’s alright for a story to be simple and at a level where the average man can see himself in the characters. But the fact remains that it is still a movie and some iota of interest needs to be peaked in the audience from the start. That interest needs to gradually progress and by the end of the movie the audience should feel like something was experienced or something was gleaned from the experience of watching the movie.

The moment usually comes for me at the end of every movie. It’s right before I type the first word for the review. At that point I ask myself two questions: #1: What did I get from this movie? #2: What should YOU know about this movie before going in.

It’s #1 that had me stumped. Up till the last few moments of the movie I wasn’t sure what I head gleaned from the movie: is it humor? Is it morals? Or was it entertainment.

There were a few funny moments here and there, granted. But not enough for 100 minutes of movie time. And the movie was way too slow in way too many parts to have been called entertaining. Now was there a lesson to be learned? Is it anything more than the depiction of an average man’s daily struggles? I guess with the fairytale ending (and the message in the title), one thing’s for sure. Patience pays. As it did for Arinze. But did my patience pay at the end of this? What did I gain from the experience of watching the movie.

The movie has a few genuinely hilarious moments mostly from Tope Tedela as the fabulous Kyle and the rest happen unintentionally to our lead character, Arinze, at scattered places through out the movie. However, the funny moments are too few and far between to call this movie a comedy.

The boss’ character, Brume, could have been amusing if the actor owned it a bit more. In the end he just ended up looking like a stout confused boss that everyone hates without any humor to it even when he is supposed to be funny. Unto Beverly Naya, it is clear in this movie that Beverly has grown as an actress since her first few films but there are still moments when the performance doesn’t flow from within her and you can tell that she is simply ‘trying’.

Seun Ajayi’s character in this movie is pissed on continuously by nearly everyone. From his boss to those he owes and everyone in between. It’s supposed to be a frustrated role but the character as presented by Mr. Ajayi does not ever seem frustrated (confused, yes. A hot mess, always. But hardly ever frustrated). It is almost frustrating as the viewer to watch him continue to be compliant to the end in all these situations that should elicit anger. However, the crowning moment comes in the end when he is weeping while trying to perform CPR. It almost makes it worth it to have watched his foolishness for the entire 90 minutes prior.

If the intentions for Arinze’s character is a subdued-pissed on male who is sans frustration then Ajayi perfected it.

The movie doesn’t tie together until the final moments (and even at that it’s a cliché/happily ever after/ we found love type of close up), but even then you’d have to agree “Surulere” is not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea.