5th Floor

We’ve seen various versions of this workplace storyline either with a poor man working his way up the ladder, or in the “Gateman” where a nice rich young man pretended to be less. However, there’s just something about this one that pulls at all your heartstrings.

In 5th floor, the daughter of a rich man takes her place as the CEO of the office and in a desperate attempt to make her power felt, she becomes demeaning to those working under her. This goes on until one day a warrant turns up for her father’s arrest and he is being accused of stealing from the company. They loose everything and in an attempt to reveal her father’s innocent she takes up a job working as an intern for those on the 1st floor whom she once derided.

There are a lot of things going right for this movie but it would be blindness to not notice that the real star of this movie is the writer. When reading the synopsis, there are a few things that do not make sense. For instance, why would she agree to work in the company when she knows how she treated those people she once worked with? and similar questions. However, the writer manages to tie it all together that it is nothing but fluid.

Another great thing about this movie is the chemistry between the characters. Props go to the writer and casting director. The writer for writing such great characters and giving them enough of a backstory to create a connection with the viewers but also with themselves. And props go to the actors for coming together on screen in a way that doesn’t feel forced or fake. When Tolbert, Okujaye, Ufot, and Nnadi were on screen together they had great on screen chemistry – not quite as great as the workplace feeling from “Stranger in my bed” but close enough.

The queen of the moment was definitely Toni Tones. It was barely 5 minutes into the movie when I – who admittedly haven’t seen too much of her work – really began to believe that this is who she truly is in real life. Then by the end of the movie when the personality switches and she excels at that too then you realize that it’s just good acting.

I was almost hesitant to hit play on this movie for one reason – Jose Tolbert. We haven’t seen too much of his work but the few that we have seen in the past made us deservedly cautious. It was a breath of fresh air though to see how much command and control he has gained since we last saw him on screen. Tolbert as Stephen made it easy for the audience to believe that the character was as ‘good’ of a person as those around him claimed he was. He wasn’t without his flaws but he’s still far better than he was.

No matter how great the writing in this one was though it was still crippled by production. It’s almost a testament to the strength of the writing that despite all the production flaws, the ‘goodness’ of it still managed to shine through. When I say this movie was fighting against forces – it really was fighting forces. From video quality that kept oscillating between fuzzy and clear while trying to focus, to audio that decided when it wanted to be consistent and when it wanted to just up and take a vacation (I mean, in the scene where Ruby is eavesdropping on the CEO’s office conversation – what on earth did she even hear cos I didn’t hear it). Then there was that one scene where Ivie is talking to the CEO in the office and scene ends and the director yells cut…. and the editor forgot to edit that sound out. The closer the movie got to the end, the more Mount RUSHmore it became. Even the editor, seemed to have less qualms with releasing an unfinished product. The moments leading up to the final resolution was just hurried and rushed. We barely had time to realize what was going on before the end credits started to roll.

Yet, even that doesn’t bring the memory of the movie down in the viewer’s mind because of the writing. Even though the movie was nearly 2 hours long, it manages to create a feeling that wraps around you. It almost feels like even if it was longer, we would not complain (I’m not saying start making longer movies o abeg).