Cold Feet

You can spend money on all the latest gadgets, you can spend years trying to think up a truly original storyline, you can have the best public relations team the world and internet has ever seen, but all of that will fall apart if you don’t have a really well told story. One that pulls the audience into the world of the characters and creates emotional investments within them. One like Cold Feet. 

Cold Feet is the story of a loving husband, Mayowa (Jim Iyke), who takes his wife of five years, Omoye (Joselyn Dumas), on a trip to a resort to celebrate her birthday and their anniversary. While over there she meets an old flame of hers, Tare (Enyinna Nwigwe), who was initially there to propose to his girlfriend (Beverly Naya) but changes his mind upon seeing Omoye.

On a surface level this is neither the most inspiring story nor is it the most authentic. However, somehow the marriage of the writing, the production and the performances creates a world with characters that pull you in from start to finish. Through the writing, you get a sense of the intense love Mayowa has for his wife and you empathize deeply with the pain the situation must be causing him. The writing also exposes you to the selfishness of Omoye’s character, and I love how unapologetic/unafrican the character is in this. And despite how much the character frustrates, you still realize that it takes a lot in the film-making to elicit that emotion. One short-coming of the story though is towards the end. The resolution with Omoye’s character was a bit too sudden. In one scene she’s confused and tilting heavily towards B, and then in the next she’s resolute in her choice of A.

The performances here are also pretty good. Joselyn does well as the self-obsessed Omoye but Jim really brings a fire to this movie that no one else could. It is great fun seeing him outside of his usual stylish-bad boy roles and watching him still be as endearing even with a bald head and a pot belly. Suffice to say that without Jim in this film, it would have been a drag to watch.

The production design of this film is also a sight to see. The joint effects of the cinematography and the beautiful scenes is worth lauding. It comes together best in the intimate scene shot at the poolside. This was possibly one of the better shot intimate scenes nollywood has produced.

It’s not groundbreaking. It’s not revolutionary. But it is pretty impactful in telling the story it wants to tell.