'CobWeb': Worthy message; poorly delivered [Movie Review]

By Olamide Jasanya

Ever since I saw Foluke Daramola in the Tade Ogidan movie, Ayo Mi Da, I revered her so much that even when she went MIA, I literally had her back.

So you can probably understand my excitement upon hearing of her new movie, Cobweb. I was more excited because the movie is shot in English and stars mainstream English speaking acts like Uti Nwachukwu and Tamara Eteimo. Unfortunately, after seeing a few scenes, my excitement disappeared. Mrs Salako didn’t impress me and I doubt if anyone present at the premiere was impressed either, except of course, the many family and friends who kept clapping at every scene as though they had been paid to do so.

The movie tells the story of Sam Akiga, played by Olamide David/Uti Nwachukwu, who despite his father’s warnings against becoming an artiste, ends up a successful one. Directed by Toka Mcbaror, the movie stars Uti Nwachukwu, Dele Odule, Tamara Eteimo, Saheed Balogun, Foluke Daramola and her husband, Kayode Salako.

Story
The story has a good message, but is flawed, with too many loose ends. It lacks depth, research and leaves too many questions unanswered. The story has for the audience, two important lessons; to show parents the importance of helping their wards harness their talents and to further preach against the preference of the male child over the female, although they are veiled with a mixture of bad acting and poor directing.

Acting
The movie starts on wrong note with an Indian accented narration by Samuel Akiga as played by Uti Nwachukwu, but the accent isn’t maintained, as Nwachukwu continues his role with a Nigerian accent. The acting isn’t in anyway better, as all of the cast, save for Funsho Adeolu and Tamara Eteimo left their A games at home, making the scenes flaccid and boring. From unconvincing facial expressions to boring conversations and unnecessary repetitions, in all, the movie had too many boring scenes.

Unfortunately, the experienced trio of Saheed Balogun, Foluke Daramola and Uti Nwachukwu didn’t do much to salvage the situation as they got caught in the web of wrong pronunciations, dead acting and unbelievable expressions.

Cinematography, Lighting and Sound
While the camera handling is fantastic, with a variety of shots, the same cannot be said of the sound or lighting. The sound had issues, and the choice of music with an Indian and South African feel was a total write off. It almost felt as though it wasn’t a Nigerian film. Perhaps the director isn’t aware of the vital role sound plays in helping the audience understand the story, locale and themes of the movie. The lighting also had major issues, as a good number of scenes were dark and hid the actors’ expressions.

Costume and Make Up
Although this area didn’t demand much, as there was no need for special effects, it still did badly, while certain costumes were inappropriate in style and for certain characters, most notably Foluke Daramola‘s.

Directing
Of all of Mcbaror’s works, this one may be the worst, showing little of his directorial prowess. His idea of sound, lighting and directing left a lot to be desired, while his inability to pay attention to detail was another nail in the movie’s coffin. For example, not once did we see young Sam, who was supposed to be passionate about music sing, play the mouth organ or even write a song.  A number of other plot points were left open-ended, leaving the audience confused.

Mcbaror had at his disposal a crop of experienced actors including Saheed Balogun and Foluke Daramola, but it was clear he underused them or perhaps trusted them to perform without directions, which unfortunately, they couldn’t.  The movie lacks all the drama elements there are, especially suspense, which is almost certainly the favourite of Nollywood directors.

Verdict: 1/5

The movie trailer