Review of London Premier of Yinka Idowu's Hunting 4 Hubbies

The movie Hunting 4 Hubbies premiered at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich on Friday 27^th March 2015. Prominent on the red carpet were Marie Gomez, DJ Abass, Yinka Idowu, Ikenna Obi, Dayo Israel Eleanor Agala, Riyike Alayande, Kenneth Benson, Armour Owolabi, cast and crew of the movie amongst others.

Storyline: Hunting 4 Hubbies is a British Nollywood film. This great modern Nigerian story set in London is brought to the screen with fresh new talent, world class visuals and international standard original sound. 

Marie Kumba Gomez (Vicky), Sheyi Ajibola (Aisha), Ronke Ogunmakin (Bimbo) and Lorraine Stodel (Nnena) are femme fatales tired of the shrinking pool of mugus to rip off. They decide to up their game by taking up a new racket- get married, get divorced, take half!

Unfortunately, with so many men in England too hesitant to walk down the aisle, they decide they have to choose the easiest targets, those who have been caught before, the married ones!

The movie also stars Tapiwa Madovi, Amour Owolabi, Orwi Imanuel Ameh and Nosa Igbinedion as the unwitting (though somewhat willing) hubbies who get caught up in the girls' games whilst UK Big Brother star Victor Ebuwa is the powerful gang leader who finds his Achilles heel in Aisha.

Storyline: When I started to watch the movie, it reminded me of Sex and the City a series on television. In that series, there were also four women seeking out for hubbies and did many things to achieve this and sometimes ended up disappointed. Although this movie had its twists from that series, to me it shouted loud sex and the city. I concede I may be wrong and there have been no inspiration from that series.

That said to the movie itself, the part of the movie that showed how desperate women can get when looking for a partner or indeed for love or for money is a reality but to me I think the movie was over exaggerated. For example in Bimbo's case, her target had a wife who was ill and he was a practicing Christian. In my view, without diabolical means, for a man who claimed to love his wife so much, he would have been more careful not in having sex with Bimbo, but in observing how Bimbo was treating his wife. Also I think the whole Nnena role was also exaggerated.

I also think that the movie dragged on for too long and I heard people saying after the movie that they fell asleep. Others left before the movie concluded. The storyline did not stretch my mind as as usual like all Nollywood movies, the conclusion of the movie was predictable. In a movie such as this, the story should be straight to the point and people should wonder how it would end. I would make further remarks in my closing remarks.

Cast: The film starred  Lorraine Stodel Ronke Ogunmakin Sheyi Ajibola Marie Kumba Gomez Nosa Igbinedion Amour Owolabi Orwi Imanuel Ameh Stanley Ezenduka Tapiwa Madovi

I would like to start by commending the Director for using new and fresh talent. Probably only two or three of the cast are known faces in the Nollywood industry. Let me start from the positives, some of the cast were able to make the best of the situation. I think Ronke who played the role of Bimbo took the script personally and tried her best to make her role believable. I commend her for that, but I would like to state that if she wants to be a big name in this  industry, she need to keep leaning and perfecting her act. To me, I think she was the best member of the cast. I think most of the cast just kept to the script and told the story as demanded. 

However, I could not but notice Lorraine who played the role of Nnena. In my view and I say this in good faith and to help develop her to be a better actress, did not really do justice to her role. To me, she acted a scripted role meaning that it was obvious she crammed her lines. Sometime ago, I made a similar comment about one if the Nollywood actors advising him to improve himself. My advice came with mixed comments some commending me and others telling me off. I saw this same actor in the next movie and there was much of a difference.

This industry is a tough one. To make a name, one has to perfect his or herself such that they are recognised. Nollywood is a growing industry, but in my role as a reviewer and critic, my desire is to encourage the cast and crew alike to stop being mediocre and being the best they can. 

As a professional, be it a doctor or a lawyer, you must keep up to date and keep up with continuous development. The same should be the case with Nollywood. Cramming lines and presenting them especially in a lead role is unacceptable. Pick am in my church choir and in learning my songs, I sing even to the mirror as if I was singing in church. No one has arrived in this industry not even the known actors. To Lorraine and the entire cast, I would like to commend you for your boldness in coming into this industry. I really believe in you and believe one day you can be a household name like Omotola, Genevive or Mercy Johnson but it takes a lot of effort. I have spent a lot of time on this issue because of my passion for the industry and my belief that there are talk talents out there to be harnessed.

Finally on the cast, while I commend the Director for trying to harness new talent, in my view he should have mixed his cast using one or two more experienced actors and actresses for lead roles. As a child, one learns to crawl before walking and I think some of the cast were put straight in the deep blue sea and this showed in the movie.

Picture Quality: The picture quality was generally good.  Some picture shots in my view were too dark even though they were night scenes. I believe that Nollywood should take advantage of 21st century technology to get the best picture qualities. Some Nollywood movies have shown this is possible and that it takes time and effort to do so. The grading and colour correction was not awesome. In my view therefore, the picture quality was good not excellent. It was however not shaky or unpleasant to the eyes. Having said so, it was better than a lot of Nollywood movies I have seen.  

Sound Quality: With regards to the sound,  I really did not have cause for concern with the general sound quality of the movie. The sound was generally clear. In my view if anything, there could have been a bit of control with noise levels. There were one or two scenes however that the sound could have been better. Generally, there wasn’t much echo and distortion and I commend the crew for this.

Overall performance: Overall, I think this was a good effort. I think some things could have been improved. There was a clear storyline, although I think it was dragged on for too long. The truth about it is that if I had not read the synopsis or seen the name of the movie, I would have wondered where the movie was going. In my view, I think the first ten minutes of any movie should give viewers an I site into where the movie is going. In this movie, there were elements of comedy, and some elements of realities of life.

As a reviewer and critic, I would like to see better sound and picture qualities bearing in mind the high level of technology available now. The movie must have been shot on a red camera so efforts were made in terms of production. This was a good effort but if there was more attention to detail, it would have been an excellent movie.

I would like to commend the cast and crew for effort, but bearing in mind that in the cast and crew, I know only one or two people, I have written an honest review of how I saw the movie. It is a good first effort but if the points raised are considered, I am looking forward to a better production next time.

Having said all that, the question is if I would recommend this movie. As a movie critic and reviewer, I would  recommend this movie.

Watch the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEZKi-o6dfQ