Today I would be reviewing the film LABO which premiered at Odeon Cinema Greenwich on Friday 2nd August 2013. I must confess that I had so much high expectation for this movie as people had already rated it the greatest Nollywood Movie. I also worked with the team to ensure that the premiere was successful although I had nothing to do with the film itself. That being the case, I am going to write an objective critique and review of what I saw on Friday.
Let me start on a positive note by commending the enthusiasm of the producer of the film Roseline Sanni-Ajose. She took ownership of the film and was proud of her work. As usual the who in who in Nollywood were present at the red carpet and after all the socials, it was time to watch the much celebrated film. For this review I would stick to my criteria for reviewing films.
According to their literature, their Mission statement of the film was that whatever position or status a person holds in a foreign land, they should not forget where they come from. Furthermore, as parents, it is our legal obligation to raise our children with the incorporation of Afri- can culture, whether they accept it positively or negatively.
The script was based on a family with a daughter Desola who changed her name to Dessy and refused to go back with her parents a Nigerian father and a Caribbean mother to Nigeria. While I agree with the mission statement, in my view there was not much content to push the message home. In my view as a critique and reviewer, once you choose a theme for a film, the entirety of the message of that film should be clear and concise to anyone watching the movie. At the premiere, i listened to people who passed their comments on the movie and the consensus was that the message was not clear in as much as Desola tried to push the point home.
With regards to the actors and actresses, I must congratulate the team on trying to mix the cast which consisted of Nigerians, Ghanaians and Caribbean actors and actresses, in my view on lya the Nigerian crew especially the likes of Iya Awero and Jide Kosoko did the film justice. I am sorry to say, though I used to watch Village Headmaster, as the lead character and the one that was meant to send the message of the film home, Dejumo Lewis did not do the movie justice. As for the Director Ore Femi Fadeyi, in my view when he acted the role in Yoruba, he was okay, but when he came to his role in English, to me it was obvious that English movies is not really his forte.
Personally, and this is the view of some people in the industry that I have spoken to, the fact that you write a script does not mean that you should act the lead role. I commend the producer Roseline Sanni-Ajose for all her passion but again, I think that playing a role of someone that had lived in the United Kingdom for all her life, I would have expected more. Her Yoruba diction for one that does not go back to Nigeria was over exaggerated. I believe someone else could have done that role justice.
I cannot conclude this review without mentioning overall ambiance. Firstly for a film that was highly rated, the sound was terrible. It looked as if the film had been recorded with a camcorder, too much background. The subtitles left a lot to be desired. If I did not speak Yoruba, I would have missed out. If you use subtitles in a movie, make sure it is concise, clear and covers everything being said. There were also some typographical errors. There was part of the story line that dealt with immigration and lawyers demanding money. Although the Director explained the conclusion of that part of the script which was not shown, to me it was an unnecessary addition to the script. It had nothing to do with the message, so if it was to be used, the whole story should be told. I sat there as some of our English guests left the movies halfway. There was also a sexual scene and although no nudity was shown, the scene showed too much smooching that it may have to be cut out if it is classified as safe for 15 above.
I understand it took years to make this movie and I commend the team for it, but overall bearing in mind all my criteria for review, I cannot score this movie more than 4 out of a possible 10. I believe producers and Directors need to think through what they want to achieve before presenting the movie as a premiere. This review is open to comments, but I have tried to be as honest as I can be with what I saw. Would I recommend the movie, my true answer would be no in its current state.
Watch the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GraOPPwGfA
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