Seun Akindele, Bimbo Ademoye, Asa'ah Samuel, Funmi Eko, Ujams Cbriel, Bamike Olaunmi, Ariyike Dimples,
Tade's wife sacrifices her marriage for the sake of her career. Tade replaces her with a crude village girl.
1hr 31mins
Sobe Charles
Uduak Isong
Yinka Ogun
2017
Safe to say that Uduak Isong is becoming our hub for great storytelling. You know that kind of story that you just want to cuddle up with a warm blanket and some piping hot snacks while watching – “The Backup Wife” is a prime example.
The Backup Wife is the story of a man, Tade played by Seun Akindele, whose wife leaves him and accuses him of being too old school/wanting a more traditional wife – which she wasn’t. On his road to recovery, he decides to ask his mother to send him a wife from the village and his mother does just that and sends Wura. Wura is a village girl but she does have a teaching certificate, so although she can read and write she lacks sophistication and exposure. One of the neighbors takes her under her wings and begins to teach her things. As Wura changes, Tade begins to see her in a different manner.
Wura is played incredibly well by Bimbo Ademoye. Previously we thought Bimbo was good at what she did but now the term ‘good’ doesn’t quite cut it. The ease with which she has transformed from the usual classy/side-chic role into a pure villager than can give Jenifa a run for her money, in incredible.Bimbo sells you on her character in “The Backup Wife”. Her comic timing is impeccable, and the combination of her and Seun Akindele in some scenes will have you rolling in laughter.
If there’s one thing this movie does great, it’s the comedy. The next thing it does very well is in developing the character. You watch as Wura transforms from having nothing fascinating about her, into a girl who can hold her own in conversations but still manages to endear herself to you. However, the development of our characters doesn’t transfer into the development of the conflict in the end, or the eventual development of the romance. The conflict is rushed into the final scenes and resolved accordingly and the romance seems almost like it was just appended on it all.
Regardless, “The Backup Wife” is one movie that you don’t want to come to an end. Bimbo is the real highlight of this movie and because she does it so well, it works.
