A Little White Lie

‘A Little White Lie’ is a very formulaic script. It tells the story of a young lady who is single and could care less but on the eve of her parent’s arrival (considering she had lied to them that she was in a relationship) she is faced with the dilemma of either owning up to her lies or presenting her parents with a fake boyfriend. You and I can both guess which option she chose.  After scouting a few hopefuls, she settles on her next door neighbor who happens to bare the same name as her fictional boyfriend.

It is formulaic. It is unoriginal. It is extremely predictable but it is also memorable and a movie that I would have no problem rewatching again sometime in the future. And the main reason for this is the performances.

The movie had a solid foundation of skilled actors. From Mike Godson who simply commands the screen at every moment to Jennifer Eliogu and Mary Njoku. It’s hard to remember when Mary became this skilled of an actress. It’s either she has been acting the same roles and as such has built up a portfolio of experience that these roles are nothing for her now. Or (the more likely option) she has just grown immensely as an actress that when she comes on screen you feeling like you are watching her from a hidden camera.

Mbong Amata plays the female lead in this romantic comedy. In the initial scenes, she was not as fluid a performer as the rest of the actors in the frame but overtime the role grows on her and her timidity/her character’s timidity becomes part and parcel of our memory of the movie.

The movie is not without its flaws especially as far as originality is concerned. The one thing that could have been done better was the makeover scene. There was more than enough room to make Mbong’s character’s entrance grander and to make the makeover a bit more poignant (like for instance by tackling those brows… *ok bye*).