The Wedding Party
Adesua Etomi, Banky Wellington, Richard Mofe Damijo, Sola Sobowale, Iretiola Doyle, Ali Baba, Somkele Iyamah, Enyinna Nwigwe, Ikechukwu, Beverly Naya, Ayo Makun, Zainab Balogun
Set in Lagos, Nigeria, The Wedding Party is the story of Dunni Coker (Adesua Etomi), a 24 year old art gallery owner and only daughter of her parents about to marry the love of her life, IT entrepreneur Dozie (Banky W). The couple took a vow of chastity and is looking forward to a ground-breaking first night together as a married couple.
Kemi Adetiba
Ijeoma Agukuronye, Don Omope, Zulu Oyibo
Tosin Otudeko and Kemi Adetiba
2016
The spectacle
Unoriginal lines
The first bollywood movie that I remember ever watching was K3G. Prior to that, my perception of Indians was, to be honest, just another group of individuals who are possibly lesser than Nigerians (yeah, my Nigerian pride be strong). After seeing that movie, my perception of Indians was changed or molded. I saw them in roles of ownership and strength. They come from worlds where they could have everything, possibly even more than anything that many Americans can imagine. They were like Nigerians! (yeah…. my naija pride is strong!). One of my favorite things about this movie is that it gives that same feeling I felt about Indians, to the rest of the world about Nigerians. We are not all crooks and frauds and there is great wealth in this country. It’s similar to the feeling I got from watching “The Kingdom” in 2012, except this time it’s something we can present to the rest of the world.
But now let’s talk about the movie…
The movie does not lie about what it is. It is a party true and true. Following the happenings on the wedding day of two elite Nigerian young’uns who decided to tie the knot. It has all the ingredients for entertainment and nostalgia and Kemi Adetiba’s crisp direction hold you bound. If there’s one thing the movie does well, it is spectacle. Even though the degree of the spectacle factor does decrease as the movie progresses, it still manages to create that impression of grandeur.
A point I think even the movie makers would agree with though, is that it will take a lot to trust any human being that tells you that their favorite part about this movie is the intense acting or skills shown. If they say ‘performance’ then maybe we can trust them because this movie is a performance from all involved from start to finish. And that is not something to be peeved about because the movie is called “The Wedding PARTY”.
And party it does… For the first hour of the movie we are captivated by all the beauty, the beautiful scenes, the beautiful shots, the beautiful cast, the beautiful music, the beautiful sets and everything in between. However, as movies tend to do, the story had to end at some point and that’s when it begins to unravel. It’s at this point that you realize that the wedding party is truly a cheese fest.
From such uninspired lines as “do you think this is superstory?”, “the only person allowed to make my husband suffer is me” and my favorite “Dozie, go get your girl!”, the last few minutes of this movie could have been written by a middle schooler.
However, the movie makers know this, just like they did in “Flower Girl“, so they compensate with more spectacle. The greatest spectacle though in this entire movie though is Iretiola Doyle. Ms. Doyle shines like the morning sun in her role as Mrs. Onwuka. She is simply a class act. It can be argued that the ease with which she portrays this evil that you can’t help but love is due to multiple opportunities for practice in works like “Gidi Up” and “The Grudge”. She owns the screen in every scene.
The second most impressive acting spectacle was the white girl who plays Dunni’s friend (I’m sure she has a name… but I’m also sure that if I mentioned it you wouldn’t have as readily known who I was referring to). She is effortless, she is stunningg but most impressively, she fits naturally in the role. So dear nollywood producers, please on behalf of all nollywood lovers, for all future white-people needs in our movies, please procure them from the same place they did in TWP. Thanks.
The movie works out in such a way that the lead couple exists and their conflict exists but the main character is the wedding, the secondary characters are the parents and the tertiary characters are the couple and no one is peeved about this because it works just fine.
As a movie lover, I will be watching this again within the next 7 days. As a movie critic, I hate to say but once we get past the party it’s nothing but a cheese fest.
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Japa!
After all the hype about The Wedding Party, I finally sat down to watch, especially since I love Enyinna Nwigwe ,Sola Sobowale Ireti Doyle, RMD, and others. However, in my humble opinon, what I witnessed was a strawberry cake with all the cream cheese and strawberry icing, with no cake. The movie has you laughing at various points, which in the beginning, some of what was supposed to be comedy was completely rushed, unrealistic, and overdone, and then we get the spectacle. A whole heap of it, which, including the dancing is slightly overdone. What struck me as odd, was that for both of the characters coming from what we are presented as affluent families, the church and the wedding reception venue did not match the status of the two families. Maybe I missed something, as I know Dunni’s father eventually says that they are broke, but IJS.. As far as the story goes, we are given a framework to work with to understand the various conflicts arising with the characters. In my view, the actual story does not start until the pastor comes to the reception venue to do the prayers. It is then that we are led into the drama that unfolds. After that, we are actually given a real story, that gives us bits and pieces of info that is tied to the larger framework of a story set up earlier. I will say that the originality that is evident towards the end of the movie deserves a nod. It was definitely a “party”, but not a real “movie” in my view. So much more could have been explored. I still maintain that the best wedding movie I have seen has been Pascal Amanfo’s “Family Album”, a movie that shows so much drama going on during a wedding reception, that you actually feel like you are in it.
It’s terrible and over-hyped. The first time I watched this movie out of curiosity because the hype was deafening. Then after watching the movie, I sat down and asked myself… “TF was that about?”. I decided to do it again, watch it again…maybe it’s me.
Then it hit me. This is one of the worst stories, plots, movies, etc I have ever seen come out of Nollywood. They used glitz and glamour, Sola Sobowale, and fine fine people to 419 you people.
I recommend watching Pascal Amanfo’s “Family Album”, a well developed film that takes place during a wedding reception with some glitz and glam, but a story line that will keep you hooked! You can find it on Iroko tv.
Very good Movie, lovely story but not one of the greats in my opinion. It played safe and did not extend what Nollywood has already done. Still a top notch film, a 6, maybe 7 if pushing it.
I’ve watched this movie twice, and I’m very sure I’ll watch it over and over, I think this my best movie for 2016. My standout performance goes to Sola Sobowale, I just can’t help loving her acting from start to finish. Then Beverly Naya and her crew were fire too. I didn’t recognize Zainab Balogun till she removed the weavon, I laughed so hard… And finally the icing on the cake is no one but the delectable Ireti Doyle….
This is a must watch movie for movie lovers.
I was skeptical about the quality of The Wedding Party movie when I first heard about it from a friend. I had the chance to see it in a cinema in December last year while I was on a mission in Lagos.
I tell you, this movie is packed with interesting scenes by amazing actors. The quality of the movie can’t be underrated. Trust me.