Director: Tchidi Chikere
Writer: Daniel Imasuen
Cast: Francis Duru, Nuella Njubuigbo Chikere, Romanus Lott, Bolanle Ninalowo
Year: 2016
Run-time: 1 hour 49 minutes
Genre: Romance
Universal productions in conjunction with Iroko Partners brings us the life of Nneka (Nuella Njubuigbo Chikere), a wife maltreated and kicked out of her husband’s house. Eventually she separated from him, moved far away, and then found love at her new place of work. Her boss, Chike (Francis Duru), was recently widowed and was under pressured by his mother (Florence Sunday) to find another wife. For a man who didn’t want to hear about it, at least not yet, little did he know he was at the crevice of another love story.
Per production quality this film gets no thumbs up, and none down either. Its only saved entirely by the way it builds up to a very moving end. The costumes by Jacob Okike were good and weren’t all over the place. The locations also got a nod, but not the same can be said of editing. It may have seemed like nothing, but at a point, two wardrobes in Nneka’s office were open. That’s a “no no”. Could it not have been at least shut or nailed permanently before the director shouted “action”? Also, was it the harassment by two thugs (one late night after work) that made Nuella Chikere fall fast asleep in Francis Duru’s car – till he carried her indoors and upstairs, took off her shoes for her, passed the night, and then woke up late for work with her?
Sound effects were a too loud, like at the scene where Jide (Bola Ninalowo) threw a fit over the news of his impotency. A lot of incidents and events were like eye-openers for me while at the same time I questioned their possibilities. They may have simply been mere extremes in the writer’s mind. Like the case of a mother instructing her daughter against cases of repeated adultery (like does it really get to that anywhere).
Doctor Nonso (Chinedu Olenge Okolie) had to be the most unconvincing character available. He seemed to have been headed nowhere when he bumped into Doctor Aboderin (Romanus Lott). The dialogue at that entrance was only necessary to pull the movie towards a new but already predictable discovery. But apart from that, the scene needed better casting and soul.
Was the father-to-son talk about women supposed to impress? Like a Lion King and son moment? It was lost on me. Not with that soundtrack (from Idios). Whenever I come across Francis Duru (Stigma, Lipstick) in movies I half-expect hair-raising drama. Not this. This felt like watching him in a documentary. Hospital patients are usually clothed in plain-colored loose clothing, Nuella Chikere was supposed to be unconscious from a road accident for a week, but yet had been changing into fancy clothes and new (though light) makeup for over the same period. How?
Directed by Tchidi Chikere (Dumebi, Beautiful Soul), this is a Monday evening film, something sensible for a week-start.
