The
movie Murderer in law premiered at the Odeon Cinema Greenwich on Friday 26th
June 2015. Prominent on the Blue carpet were Nelson Spyk, Danny Erskine, Tolulope
Yesufu, HRH and Chief Oyebade, Ruke Amata, Francis Uwadi, Nonso Nwaiwu, M A
Benson, Adenike
Helen Osabutey, Ade Bello, Ken Smart, Riyike Alayande, DJ
Abass,Kenneth Benson, Gift
Boyo, Ifeoma Okeke and Vanessa Adekola.and a host of other important people. In
fact the premiere was more like a carnival a the crowds kepy coming in. The
premier was hosted in 2 screens by DJ Abass CEO of DJ Media and sponsored by
Lebara who also launched Lebara play at the premiere.
Storyline:
Murderer-in-law tells the story of Lola
and TJ, both in a relationship. Lola lives with her friend whilst TJ lives at home with his
mother who sees Lola as a threat to a relationship with her son. The
movie reveals how the mother in law and daughter law managed their relationship
to a success story. The storylime was full of suspense and a lot
of humour.
I commend the
writer and Producer Tolulope Yesufu for coming up with such a brilliant
storyline. In the African culture, the mother never
wants to leave her son particularly to a woman no
matter how much in love they may be. This story line is so real and although
not all mother in laws are like the one projected in the movie, mothers have
this thing of reminding children how they carried them for 9 months and took care of them till they became men.
The crunch of this particular storyline is that Lola the
proposed daughter in law was ready to fight fire for fire and was ready to do anything to win the love of her fiancé even
if it mean plotting against her mother in law. The good thing about this storyline is that the audience
were able to flow with the
storyline and were able to adapt quickly following the whole story through.
My only critic would be that I though the
story dragged on for too long and that one or two scenes could have been
removed as they did not add anything relevant to the storyline. Also having
said that, I would also commend the script writer again. Not only did she write
about a societal ill, she tried to exploit ways of dealing with the ill even
though the methods were unconventional, but in the end she achieved results.
Not only did she get her fiancé back, she got the blessing and repect of her
mother in law. In earnest, it was a cycle making the syory a complete story.
Cast: Directed by London based director, Nelson Spyk, the movie featured Tolulope Yesufu, Adenike
Helen Osabutey, Ade Bello, Ken Smart, Danny Erskine, Theodora
Ibekwe-Oyebade, Marie Kumba Gomez, Gift Boyo, Ifeoma Okeke and Vanessa Adekola.
.
Watching the movie, I wouls particularly like to commend
three people. Firstly, I want to commend Ken Smart who played the part of a
landlord. I have seen Ken in two or three movies prior to this one, nut he
(pardon my language), he nailed this role. He was humorous and alive, you could
see a real womanizing landlord in him and he did it with so much ease. I believe
the role suited him such that I am looking forward to seeing him do even better
in subsequent movies.
This is the first movie I am seeing Vanessa Adekoya who
played the role of the house help (Folake aka Suru). I am used to seeing Vanessa
on the red carpet doing interviews. What can I say about her? If I was a scout,
she would definitely win my vote. In fact, I was shocked as she made me laugh
and not only me but the majority of those that were at the premiere. She
depicted a typical local village girl, she played the role so well and to me if
she stays focused and does not lose track, she is an upcoming talent not only
in Nollywood but in any where she chooses to go. I see more Directors casting
her in subsequent movies.
I thought I had seen the best of Adenike Helen Osabutey> However, she blew me beyond my socks in this movie. She is just a natural talent with so much
potential. Throughout the movie, we saw exactly what was expected of her as a
dominating mother and mother in law and what was more exciting is how she played
that role with ease. Her command of the Yoruba language added and contributed largely
in sealing the role and the fact that she added comedy and humour to the role
was a bonus. Could not really fault her. I see Adenike going places, but like I
always advice, it is always good not to lose focus and keep improving and the
sky would be too small to be her limit.
I would like to commend
the Producer Tolulope Yesufu for giving her vision of the movie and the
Director Nelson Spyk for taking the talent he had in terms of the cast and
creating such an awesome movie. Yes I said it, the movie cannot be describes as
anything else but awesome. As a reviewer and critic, I think there was a right
balance in the cast and everyone did a perfect job even outside their comfort
zones. Was nice seeing HRH Theodora Ibekwe Oyebade playing the role of a
mistress and a back stabbing friend as well as being a tale bearer (Amebo) as
we call them in Yoruba.
The Nollywood industry is
evolving very quickly and with what I
saw in the premiere of this movie, there is talent, some so raw that are
waiting to be harnessed. Directors within the industry need to fish these talents
out and build them up so that a new set of actors and actresses are being
produced. I would like to cry out to the actors guild to help identify and
develop these talents so that our industry can grow to greater heights.
Picture
Quality: The picture quality was generally good. Although some transitions were a bit slow, pictures
were clear and generally within the frame. I am not a fan of the fast paced
pictures taken to display the city, but non the less on the whole I could not
fault the picture quality.
Sound
Quality: With regards to the sound, again for most parts, the sound was of very
good quality. The sound was clear and you could hear clearly what the cast were
saying. I think in some cases the music was too loud and may have slightly
overshadowed part of the voice of the cast but on the whole, I think with
relation to the sound, there were more positives than negatives.
Overall
performance: One thing I would have liked
to see especially for those that don’t speak Yoruba or Ibo was sub titles.
Helen, Tolu, the fake mum and the house help spoke both languages and sub titles
would have assisted in explaining what they were saying.
This movie has been in the pipeline for long and it is
obvious that a lot of work was put into the movie. The movie not only had a
story to tell, it was well articulated, brilliantly presented and above all
full of humour.
Though I do not score or rate movies anymore, without any
doubts in my mind, this movie is an A class movie. I would like to commend the Director Nelson
Spyk, the Producer Tolulope Yesufu and the entire cast and crew for a job well
done. At the end of the movie, I had to give an only would I recommend this movie as a applause
and believe me, I don’t do that in many movies.
The question remains if I would recommend this movie.
Undoubtedly, the movie has a definite message and as a reviewer and critic, I would like to see it go
beyond the London premier possibly to cinemas or to places like Iroko, Netflix
or even Lebara Play. The movie is simple to follow and ticks all the boxes with
regards to sound and pictures. I would recommend the movie any day and anytime
of the day and all that is left to say to the cast and crew is a big well
done!!
Watch
the trailer:
