MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Foolish People’ is an 8/10 blend of love, humour, healing

Movie Title: Foolish People

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Cast: Bolaji Ogunmola, Uzor Arukwe, Pamilerin Ayodeji, Chandaza Juvi Mweenda, Aaron Sunday, Kingsley Bewi, Ogbolo Bestowe.

Producer: Bolaji Ogunmola

Director: Great Valentine Edochie

Foolish People is a story of two flawed individuals who find their way back to each other’s arms.

Phoebe is a businesswoman and aspiring author. Charles, or Dr Charles as he prefers to be called, is a medical doctor and aspiring Tech founder.

Both of them are thrown together years after a failed romantic relationship, when a tragedy occurs.

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The movie starts with Phoeb, played by Bolaji Ogunmola, receiving a shocking phone call; her cousin, alongside her husband and others, had perished in a plane crash.

In the next scene, we see her and her late in-laws’ best friend, Dr Charles, in a lawyer’s office. The lawyer reads the final request of the coup, which contains an astonishing request: that Phoebe and Dr Charles, played by Uzor Arukwe, move into their home to jointly raise their orphaned daughter, Tabby, as their own.

As much as Phoebe loves her niece Tabby, who is also Charles’ goddaughter, this is a bombshell as the pair do not get along and have even spent the meeting squabbling.

Nevertheless, they quickly agree to the request when the Lawyer states that the late couple’s assets will go to the State, and Tabby will be moved to foster care if they do not take up the responsibility.

Back home with 12-year-old Tabby, the squabbles continue. We later learn that the pair dated briefly and even shared a night of pleasure, but Charles’s dedication to his job and obsession with financial achievement strangled the relationship within six months.

The movie takes us through their ups and downs as a blended family- the initial lows when the pair grapple with the enormity of the responsibility foisted on them, and the highs when they finally start getting along and having fun together as a trio.

Along the way, Dr Charles messes up when he misses Tabby’s Interhouse Sports, and this brings back to the fore the reason their relationship crashed four years ago.

In the flashback, we see Phoebe making immense efforts and sacrifices to keep the relationship going. At the same time, Dr Charles obsesses over his work, his budding career in tech, and opening his own clinic. His attraction to Phoebe turns to disgust because she chooses to take life easy and is not consumed by career achievement or accumulating wealth.

After the Interhouse Sports incident, Phoebe kicks Charles out of the house and assumes the position of Tabby’s caretaker all by herself.

On the surface, it seems Phoebe is thriving with the new arrangement, but the heart wants what it wants. They eventually come back together after Charles makes the first move, and love wins yet again.

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Review

This is a feel-good movie. It explores the themes of forgiveness, love in its different forms and family. It shows that good things can happen when we take responsibility for our mistakes and are determined to make them right.

The cast was well selected, and they delivered on their roles. Bolaji and Uzor are a match made in movie lovers’ heaven, and their dialogue was seamless. Their acting in this movie is natural, and I found myself eagerly anticipating their scenes.

At first, I thought Phoebe was overdoing the anger, but when I heard the cutting remarks Charles made to her after missing her birthday, I realised her anger was very well justified.

Pamilerin Ayodeji as Tabby totally stole my heart. She was funny and smart and delivered her lines like a true professional. Her only misstep was how chirpy she acted in her first scene, considering she had just become an orphan. Yes, there are different ways to grieve, but a sombre mood would have been more believable; the director dropped the ball on that.

Regardless, I look forward to seeing her star rise in Nollywood and beyond. She is definitely one to watch.

The movie is not perfect. The premise may be far-fetched for Nigerian reality, but the actors make it work. The sound was off in a couple of scenes, but the cinematography and lighting, especially for the nighttime scenes, were perfect.

Verdict: 8/10