Tags
ada ameh, airport, chika chukwu, chika okpala, joke silva, Kunle Afolayan, lagos, lydia forsan, movie, nollywood, Nsi etim ikpe, phone, phone swap, swap, wale ojo
Starring: Wale Ojo , Nsi Etim I , Joke Silva, Lydia Forsan, Chika Okpala, Chika Chukwu, Ada Ameh
Writer: Kemi Adesoye
Director: Kunle Afoloyan
Although I heard about this movie a couple of years ago, I watched it the other day.
Summary
A harsh i-no-send-rich man and an average tailor swap phones at the Lagos International Airport. Now, they have to help out each other as they not only ended up switching phones but also locations.
First, I want to commend the director, cast, crew and every other persons involved in this movie. It was sweet. The sound, picture, locales, costumes, expressions, acting, in fact worked well to give this movie high credence.
Who says a simple cliché story was overrated. Phone Swap played out the way it was intended. Light hearted, simple humor. Although I can’t really say how Nsi missed going to Owerri and ended up in Abuja, but such minor discrepancies did not alter the overall good feel of the movie.
I loved so many things about this movie. First is the simple nature of the story.
Secondly, the director did a good job with the directing, sound, picture quality and the acting. Expressions and gestures were not exaggerated. Dialogues not stressed or over-played. The actions were pretty convincing- the fight scenes. The locations were real and pleasant. I like Wole Ojo harsh, autocratic nature, Nsi’s simple, humble yet-not-stupid-nor-a-pushover style and Joke frantic mother role. I loved seeing Chika Okpala in this movie. I also enjoyed Cynthia’s role and acting.
Thirdly, I love the use of native dialects. All the leads and sub-leads reverted to/spoke their native language (Yoruba, Igbo or Ghanaian) at one point or another. Although my mum complained it was a contemporary movie and so wasn’t needed, for me, I thought it was it had a certain beauty to it. The use of native tongue in this movie is just as it is in real life; for expressions, remarks, clarity, emphasis and snide/side remarks. Nollywood has made it such a way that is seen that only village people (whatever that means. We all come from villages) or those from humble backgrounds speak their native language fluently. And so it is depicted in Nollywood that only poor people speak their native language. The high and mighty like Joke Silva and Wale Ojo speak only Queen’s English. Clearly, Kunle and the writer disagreed and I agree with them. I wish more movies like this that portray the good and reasonable side of Nigeria were churned out more.
Lastly I loved the locales and costumes. The locations were realistic and for once I admired a rural location in a movie. And about the costumes, Nsi’s clothes matched her profession as a designer who knows what fits. She may not have all the money in the world but she knows style.
Kunle Afoyalan has done a good job, taking out time and effort to produce and direct an entertaining movie like this. I rate this movie 4 out of 5. The one missing star is just because we know nothing is perfect and there’s room for improvement.
Trivia
- The person selling recharge cards is actually the director of the movie.
- Joke Silva is about 5 years older than Wale Ojo, yet she is portrayed as his mother.
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