OUR PRESIDENT’S MONEY

In a time when we are becoming enthralled with some very great and captivating storylines and acting in Nollywood, ‘Our President’s Money’ seems to fall below par, and creates more questions than give answers.

Our President’s money is the story of a young Lagos Island playboy, Dave, who is living with his sugar mummy but is also a chronic cheat. His sugar mummy is to travel to Abuja two days before lockdown, and Dave sees this as an opportunity to bring in a girl to enjoy the lockdown with him.  After several failed attempts, he eventually gets someone to stay with him during the lockdown, but his sugar mummy gets back a few hours after she initially left, saying her appointment got cancelled.

The whole drama revolves around how Dave would try to hide his side chic from his sugar mummy in the same house throughout the lockdown. With a series of unconnected incidents to follow, six people pit against each other over a large amount of money in a house where no one can leave for seven days due to an ongoing nationwide lockdown.

I went to the cinema with so much expectation and high hopes of seeing a very well crafted comic thriller, but like a football match brought to an abrupt end before the final whistle, my hopes were dashed.  From the beginning to the end of “Our President’s Money”, I was looking for the story. At some point I tried playing the devil’s advocate by making up a reason for the bland storyline and forced boring dialogues, but the abstract plot wouldn’t even allow that see the light of day.

‘Ponzi’ wasn’t bad for a comic thriller at all, even the much scrutinized ‘Passport’ does far better than this, perhaps makers  of ‘Our President’s Money’ could do with some tutorial classes from makers of the two aforementioned movies.

Well, while I must say the directing wasn’t bad. However, even with an award-winning director, nothing much can be done with a story like that. Questions even arise on the relevance of certain scenes. For instance, what was the idea behind MC lively acting all those drama on the street in an estate? If there’s one beautiful thing about comedy, it’s that it can never be forced, sometimes less is more. What was the relevance of the scene where his bike was stolen? It felt like the director seemed to intentionally force the 96 mins running time that long.

Let’s just say with Dauda with his unsuccessful womanizing escapades (who seems to be the center of the whole plot),  and Emmem who actually stole some money (The president’s money) and is disappointedly only introduced about forty minutes into the film, we are left asking “who really are the other characters”?

‘Our President’s Money’ boasts of a star cast that have proven their worth in previous outings, but due to the blandness and the scalar nature of the film, their efforts are rendered pointless as their performances are blown away in the wind. Our President’s Money is monotonous from beginning to end as it does little to raise emotions. There is no proper exposition, rising action, climax or adequate denouement. It is riddled with unnecessary scenes that make the bulk of the film. It’s a wonder how this left the preproduction phase if there ever was one.

While, the issue lies with the storyline, the actors played their roles well, and should be commended. Deyemi Okanlawon & Toyin Abraham came through as usual, Etinosa Idemudia and Linda Osifo were fair enough, however, there are many questions from Annie Idibia’s acting, perhaps that’s a story for some other time. Added to the aforementioned cast who took part in this are Michael “MC Lively” Sani Amanesi, Etinosa Idemudia, Vanessa Ali, among a few others.

There is nothing much to say about cinematography, costume and make-up as the movie didn’t require anything special.

Star Performer- Nil

A great storyline most times brings out some exceptional acting. It’s a shame we do not have anyone fall into this category.

Can-do-better Performer- Annie Idibia

It’s not so clear what happened, but Annie Idibia shouldn’t fall into this category.