2018 movies, is ‘Chief Daddy’ worth your popcorn?

018 was a year of movies in Nollywood. Some of the films were exceptional and dominated the discourses of movie lovers, and some were just Judas that betrayed the effort in rebranding Nollywood as industry of quality film productions. One of the films that made waves is Mo Abudu’s “Chief Daddy” directed by Niyi Akinmolayan. Of course, because of the publicity and the fact the film is star studded (two qualities that has become the trade mark of Mo Abudu’s productions). The film featured Nkem Owoh, Patience Ozokwor, Joke Silva, RMD, Taiwo Obileye, Falz, Funke Akindle, Rachel Oniga ( Aunty Joke), Linda Ejiofor, Mawuli Gavor, Kate Henshaw, Zainab Balogun, Beverly Osu, and others. “Chief Daddy” did not live to my expectations. This is not to say the film is a bad one; maybe because I went to see the movie with so much expectation. I concluded at the end that ‘Chief Daddy’ is neither here nor there; it is neither bad nor exceptional. I would have written the movie off but for the brilliant performances and quality production from cinematography, to sound, editing, and even the appropriate costume. The directing was also above average. There is this significant role these technical aspects played in salvaging the film from a too simplistic script. One may want to argue that “Chief Daddy” is a comedy and such narrative requires little but on the other hand, comedies are not exempted from brilliant and mind tasking script/story.

In the film, Chief Beecroft (Taiwo Obileye)also known as Chief Daddy suddenly died leaving too much baggage behind. He had several secret relationships and marriages and after his demise, he tried to bring the different units of his family together to do one task which if they succeed in doing, they will be rewarded with inheriting the man’s money and property as contained in the will. Failure to do this task comes with a disastrous consequence.

For the performance, Rachel Oniga and Joke silver came out as the best performers in the movie. Patience Ozokwor and Nkem Owoh had good chemistry working out for them because both actors had featured in numerous films together so they understand each other very way. Nkem Owoh and Patience brought in the desired humour but failed woefully in the first major scene in the movie. They failed to impress on me with their acts when they suddenly discovered that Chief Beecroft had lost consciousness and were trying to resuscitate him. Their acts were unconvincing and failed in portraying the urgency of the situation. The director failed in this regard in bringing out a more realistic performance from the duo. Compare their act with the more even performances of the doctor when he entered to check Chief Daddy and also Joke Silver when she entered the scene later. “Chief Daddy” is not a farce where you expect too much unrealistic performances (farce is a kind of drama with extreme and exaggerated follies). Other performers did considerably well except Falz who was struggling while Linda Ejiofor didn’t get it right at all.

There were pretty good and memorable dialogues like when Joke Silver was asked by the Beecrofts “what did you just say” and she retorts back “what did you just hear?” There were also memorable lines like when RMD was asked something like “whose gonna be making this call for you when you’re gone?” I also love Rachel Oniga line “it is best to stoop to conquer”. Mawuli Gavor’s call to her mother telling her of the chaos she met at Chief Daddy’s home did not portray a phone conversation; it was more of a monologue.

The technical aspect was the high point for the movie. There was so much synergy of the technicalities and the narration itself for instance the cinematography, the movement of the camera. How the cinematographer at the beginning of the film demonstrates Balogun Beecroft’s (Mawuli Gavor) tale of waking up from reality, with a sudden shift to another scene where Patience Ozokwor woke up the gateman from his slumber with a thunderous slap marked so much ingenuity. There is another one where a scene with Falz was introduced immediately his name was mentioned in a previous scene. The movement of the camera from the faces of the Beecrofts while they were sitting at the dining table with the lawyer to the door when Nkem Owoh went to open the door for Mawuli Gavor was also apt. The sound effects were impressive, from the thundering slap, to the cooking pot of soup, the pounding in a mortar, to the banging of doors. The costume was good also. Ini Edo’s bum aptly demonstrates the reason a weak man like Chief Daddy will easily fall into temptation. The sound tracks resonate with the mood of some of the scenes like when Reekado Banks “easy jeje” was being played while the Beekrofts’ tempers were flaring” and Jim Reeves’ song “God be with you till we meet again” as Chief Daddy was being buried.

The storyline/script is relevant to Nigeria’s problems. It alludes to our politicians who always fan the ember of disunity using our differences (religion and tribe) but only unites when they want to loot Nigeria’s treasury. However, it was not a sucker punch. The script was weak but was salvaged by the general good performances of the cast, and quality production. At the end of the movie, the story failed to leave me with an “affect” or impression particularly because of the way the conflict was too easily resolved. I hope the story has really ended because an attempt to stretch it will be easily a disaster, and predictable. “Chief Daddy” in all is worth your time, money and popcorn. 2