Movie Review: "The CEO" - A Kunle Afolayan Film
A very good day to all of you great movie buffs out there. It took a while coming, but I finally got to see the movie "The CEO"; the gripping mystery-thriller produced and directed by Kunle Afolayan. I sincerely hope that my review would do justice to this great film.
CREW
Screenwriter: Tunde Babalola
Producer: Kunle Afolayan
Associate Producer: Seun Soyinka
Line Producer: Bose Oshin
Editor: Adelaja Adebayo
Cinematographer: Dawid Pietkiewicz
Director: Kunle Afolayan
CAST
Wole Ojo
Nico Panagio
Jimmy Jean-Louis
Hilda Dokubo
Fatym Layachi
Kemi 'Lala' Akindoju
Aurelie Eliam
Peter King, and
Angelique Kidjo
Production Studio: Golden Effects Pictures and KAP
Distributors: Silverbird Film Distribution, Ozone Cinemas, Filmhouse Cinemas and Genesis Deluxe Cinemas
Language: English and French (subtitled)
Date of Release: 15th July, 2016
SYNOPSIS
The movie begins with Kola (Wole Ojo), a telecom executive, running on the shore line of a beach, away from the Police. He eventually gets caught, and is arrested by CSP Ebenezer (Hilda Dokubo).
While in Police detention, Kola is questioned, by CSP Ebenezer, of his complicity in the death of two telecom executives; who were competing with him for a slot to become the CEO of TransWire Nigeria, a telecom giant.
Kola is forced to narrate his own version of what went wrong at the beach resort; where he alongside four other telecom executives...had
gone to vie for the post of TransWire Nigeria's CEO.
The other four CEO aspirants: Riikard (Nico Panagio), Jomo (Peter King), Elouise (Aurelie Eliam), and Yasmim (Fatym Layachi), arrived from South Africa, Kenya, Ivory Coast and Morocco respectively. Together with Kola, they arrive at the beach resort. At the resort, they get to met with a Secretary (Lala Akindoju) from TransWire, who ushers them into the resort.
As they try to get acquainted with each other, Dr Zimmerman (Angelique Kidjo) shows up. Along the line, she informs the aspirants that the CEO selection process would be done via self-elimination. To further drive home the message, Dr Zimmerman makes the aspirants play a "Musical Chair" game.
The first time the game was played, Jomo emerged the loser. By bizarre coincidence, his dead body was found washed up the shore, the next morning.
The next time the Musical Chair game was played, Yasmin lost. The next morning, Kola discovers Yasmin's dead body in her room.
The third time the Musical Chair game was played, Elouise emerged the loser. The next morning, Kola discovers that a video of his sex romp with Elouise had somehow gotten to her paraplegic husband Jean-Marc (Jimmy Jean-Louis), who consequently commits sucide. And an angry Elouise leaves the resort, in spite of Kola's plea.
Riikard eventually wins the final round of the Musical Chair game. That night, Kola is almost killed by an assassin, who turned out to be the Secretary.... Riikard unknowingly stumbles into Kola and the double agent Secretary. He is fatally stabbed by the Secretary. Kola pursues her and they engage in a scuffle at the shore.
Three Chinese executives, of a rival telecom firm, accost Kola and the Secretary at the shore. It turns out that both Kola and the Secretary were working for the rival Chinese firm. However, the Secretary seemed to have defaulted on her own part of the deal, to influence...and make Kola emerge the CEO.
Back at the Police Station, Kola eventually gets released from detention just as he ends his story. Outside the Police Station, he runs into Dr Zimmerman, who assures him of Riikard's recovery.
The movie ends with Kola getting an SMS stating that he was now the CEO of TransWire Nigeria.
ANALYSIS
The Good
The first ten to fifteen minutes of the movie were not giving off the vibe I had expected from a movie of this calibre.
However, the movie soon picked up pace, and I could feel that great thrilling vibe well up from within me.
The concept behind the story is very original: kudos to the screenwriter!
The cinematography of this movie is 50 shades of awesome! It totally created that noir and mysterious feel that great thrillers are known for.
The Sound was well filtered and of good Hi-fi quality.
The props were well designed and properly utilized, as they blended well with virtually every scene in which they appeared. Pat Nebo is just too good!
The locations used were befitting of the theme of the movie.
The performances put up by most of the actors, were great: from Wole Ojo's philandering shenanigans, Nico Panagio's cocky quips, Peter King's manic outbursts, Aurelie Eliam's genuine/germane emotions, to Angelique Kidjo's foreboding and brooding mien.
The Bad
As fascinating and thrilling as this movie is; the plot wasn't properly resolved. In as much as the concept behind the story was original; there were still some loose knots in the plot. An instance of this, is the non resolution of how Dr Zimmerman got to know about every aspirant's dirty secret. I believe that more subplots could have been explored, but I guess time constraints and limited resources didn't allow for that to happen.
Fatym Layachi didn't do much justice to her character, as she clearly struggled to portray the right kind of emotions that her character needed. I believe that she will hone her acting skills and improve on her craft in no distant time.
Verdict
In all, "The CEO" is not just a mystery thriller, but also an intellectual movie. It is fresh and gripping. Go see it with your pals, it is surely worth your time and money. I rate this movie 4 stars out of 5.
CREW
Screenwriter: Tunde Babalola
Producer: Kunle Afolayan
Associate Producer: Seun Soyinka
Line Producer: Bose Oshin
Editor: Adelaja Adebayo
Cinematographer: Dawid Pietkiewicz
Director: Kunle Afolayan
CAST
Wole Ojo
Nico Panagio
Jimmy Jean-Louis
Hilda Dokubo
Fatym Layachi
Kemi 'Lala' Akindoju
Aurelie Eliam
Peter King, and
Angelique Kidjo
Production Studio: Golden Effects Pictures and KAP
Distributors: Silverbird Film Distribution, Ozone Cinemas, Filmhouse Cinemas and Genesis Deluxe Cinemas
Language: English and French (subtitled)
Date of Release: 15th July, 2016
SYNOPSIS
The movie begins with Kola (Wole Ojo), a telecom executive, running on the shore line of a beach, away from the Police. He eventually gets caught, and is arrested by CSP Ebenezer (Hilda Dokubo).
While in Police detention, Kola is questioned, by CSP Ebenezer, of his complicity in the death of two telecom executives; who were competing with him for a slot to become the CEO of TransWire Nigeria, a telecom giant.
Kola is forced to narrate his own version of what went wrong at the beach resort; where he alongside four other telecom executives...had
gone to vie for the post of TransWire Nigeria's CEO.
The other four CEO aspirants: Riikard (Nico Panagio), Jomo (Peter King), Elouise (Aurelie Eliam), and Yasmim (Fatym Layachi), arrived from South Africa, Kenya, Ivory Coast and Morocco respectively. Together with Kola, they arrive at the beach resort. At the resort, they get to met with a Secretary (Lala Akindoju) from TransWire, who ushers them into the resort.
As they try to get acquainted with each other, Dr Zimmerman (Angelique Kidjo) shows up. Along the line, she informs the aspirants that the CEO selection process would be done via self-elimination. To further drive home the message, Dr Zimmerman makes the aspirants play a "Musical Chair" game.
The first time the game was played, Jomo emerged the loser. By bizarre coincidence, his dead body was found washed up the shore, the next morning.
The next time the Musical Chair game was played, Yasmin lost. The next morning, Kola discovers Yasmin's dead body in her room.
The third time the Musical Chair game was played, Elouise emerged the loser. The next morning, Kola discovers that a video of his sex romp with Elouise had somehow gotten to her paraplegic husband Jean-Marc (Jimmy Jean-Louis), who consequently commits sucide. And an angry Elouise leaves the resort, in spite of Kola's plea.
Riikard eventually wins the final round of the Musical Chair game. That night, Kola is almost killed by an assassin, who turned out to be the Secretary.... Riikard unknowingly stumbles into Kola and the double agent Secretary. He is fatally stabbed by the Secretary. Kola pursues her and they engage in a scuffle at the shore.
Three Chinese executives, of a rival telecom firm, accost Kola and the Secretary at the shore. It turns out that both Kola and the Secretary were working for the rival Chinese firm. However, the Secretary seemed to have defaulted on her own part of the deal, to influence...and make Kola emerge the CEO.
Back at the Police Station, Kola eventually gets released from detention just as he ends his story. Outside the Police Station, he runs into Dr Zimmerman, who assures him of Riikard's recovery.
The movie ends with Kola getting an SMS stating that he was now the CEO of TransWire Nigeria.
ANALYSIS
The Good
The first ten to fifteen minutes of the movie were not giving off the vibe I had expected from a movie of this calibre.
However, the movie soon picked up pace, and I could feel that great thrilling vibe well up from within me.
The concept behind the story is very original: kudos to the screenwriter!
The cinematography of this movie is 50 shades of awesome! It totally created that noir and mysterious feel that great thrillers are known for.
The Sound was well filtered and of good Hi-fi quality.
The props were well designed and properly utilized, as they blended well with virtually every scene in which they appeared. Pat Nebo is just too good!
The locations used were befitting of the theme of the movie.
The performances put up by most of the actors, were great: from Wole Ojo's philandering shenanigans, Nico Panagio's cocky quips, Peter King's manic outbursts, Aurelie Eliam's genuine/germane emotions, to Angelique Kidjo's foreboding and brooding mien.
The Bad
As fascinating and thrilling as this movie is; the plot wasn't properly resolved. In as much as the concept behind the story was original; there were still some loose knots in the plot. An instance of this, is the non resolution of how Dr Zimmerman got to know about every aspirant's dirty secret. I believe that more subplots could have been explored, but I guess time constraints and limited resources didn't allow for that to happen.
Fatym Layachi didn't do much justice to her character, as she clearly struggled to portray the right kind of emotions that her character needed. I believe that she will hone her acting skills and improve on her craft in no distant time.
Verdict
In all, "The CEO" is not just a mystery thriller, but also an intellectual movie. It is fresh and gripping. Go see it with your pals, it is surely worth your time and money. I rate this movie 4 stars out of 5.
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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments on this blog, are solely those of the commentators and does not in any way reflect or represent the views of Ebukah E. Nzeji.