Movie Review: A private Storm

Title: A private storm
Starring: Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Ramsey Nouah, John Dumelo, Ngozi Ezeonu, Ufuoma Ejebonor
Producer: Vivian Ejike
Story: Vivian Ejike
Executive producer: O Atoki
Directors: Ikechukwu Onyeka, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen
Year of production: 2010
Country: Nigeria.
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Prologue:  This is Vivian Ejike's third movie. The first one,  "When the heart lies" was pretty bad. However,  I was very impressed by Silent Scandals, her second movie. For this movie, there is only one thing I want to say:

AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHHHH! That is what I am talking about. Yeah!! Nigerian movies are stepping up BIG time and Vivian is right in the midst of the revolution. What? What!!! I know I am gushing like a schoolgirl, but I cannot help my self. I loved it. Loooooooved it. LOVED IT!! Please do not watch this on youtube, get your own original copy. At the moment, all the online stores have it, so get a copy u hear me? It does not cost that much and you will get excellent entertainment during this holiday season.

Click to continue to Trailer and review

Synopsis:
So what is the movie about? Domestic violence. Omotola is Gina the beautiful, super sexy very talented fiancé to Alex, played by the suave Ramsey Adetokunbo Nouah. I tell you, Ramsey is like old wine, he has only gotten better with age. He is so suave, so cool, I tell you, dude is in his prime and he knows it. It shows in his acting, as he has real swagger - confidence in leaps and bounds. Excellent. Sorry, I was telling the story right? Alex and Gina have the ultimate relationship – they are beautiful, they are rich, they are in love, what could possibly go wrong? Hmmm! How about the fact that Alex has a horrible, horrible, horrible temper. A hair trigger temper. Very touchy guy. He abuses her relentlessly – physically, emotionally and psychologically, and then apologizes most profusely when his anger abates. How does Gina handle this abuse?

Trailer below:


Review:
First of all, I must say that the casting for this movie was almost perfect. Almost. I will talk about the exceptions later but for now, let me just say that Omotola and Ramsey are Nollywood elite for a reason, and it’s a good reason. I keep saying this in any movie I review with Omosexy in it – there is something that she does with her face that is just , real. I think the word I want is “real”. You feel Gina’s fear. You feel her pain. You feel her melting when Alex would apologize. And while you may not  approve of her weakness for Alex and his gifts, you understand it. She sucks you into her situation. That is not good acting, it is EXCELLENT acting. And Ramsey. What can I say? Ramsey! This dude is on fire. Wow! I fell in and out of love with him so many times I felt schizophrenic. When he was seductive, it was irresistible. When he was vulnerable, you just want to cuddle him. And his anger, his rage was unreasonable and fierce and terrifying!! Ramsey’s Alex was nothing short of brilliant. To OmoT and Ramsey, I give a standing ovation. Excellent!!

John Dumelo plays Jason, a guy in a “complicated” relationship with Lisa played by Ufuoma Ejebonor. The movie has  two parallel stories going with Jason on one hand and Alex and Gina on the other. Eventually, the two stories collide in very interesting ways. I won’t go into that because explaining it would give the story away. All will say is that Jason has commitment issues in addition to being a serial philanderer. And Lisa deals with him. There were some laugh out loud moments with those two I tell you. Ngozi Ezeonu plays Jason’s mom, and mostly did a good job, although it got too cheesy at times.

There were two obvious weak links in the movie: Jason’s best friend and partner in womanizing, Obi, played by Vincent Opurum, as well as Jason’s sister Katie, played by Tessy Oragwa. Tessy was inconsistent. There were scenes where she could have been so much better especially acting opposite John Dumelo who is a pretty good actor. Hopefully she improves with time. Jason’s friend Obi did not come across as sexy and sophisticated if that was the intention.Those two could have been so much better.

There were other issues – there were some useless scenes that did not lead anywhere, like the scene where Ramsey was talking on the phone in his car saying he was ashamed. That scene made no sense and should have been cut, as should some of the other phone conversation scenes. Many of them were just useless fillers that stretched the movie to 3 parts. In addition, while parts one and two were excellent, part 3 started to drag and become predictable and cheesy, particularly as related to Jason. And there were so many questions I had about plot twists that just made no sense to me. For instance, the article in the magazine that caused all the brouhaha, in whose name was it written? And why was that name not recognized when the time came? And why was Jason looking to meet with Alex earlier in the movie? I just did not get that. Also, there was some allusion to a family business arrangement with Jason and Lisa which was not well developed or resolved. The online chatting thing- what was that about? And why was it so badly done? Why  was Jason chatting with someone and the chat screen was so lopsided? How hard is it to put on a chat screen properly on a computer? That was just sloppy!

I also continue to have issues with all this Lisa, Gina and Alex of a phenomenon. What is wrong with Funke or Titi or Chichi? It’s a Nigerian movie – use our names, wear our clothes. Speaking of clothes, Omot looked spectacular in this movie, particularly in the blue night scene dress – she is a beautiful woman o. Chei!! Generally speaking though, the settings were right on point, although it did seem that they used the same house as in Silent scandals for Alex and Gina’s house? I may be wrong, but the red wall did seem familiar. And one more thing that struck me – Gina’s best friend Uju, played by Christian Ajisaje reminded me so much of a young Joke Silva. The complexion, the mannerisms, even the accent -everything. I wonder if they are related. Does anyone know? The music by Paul Play Dairo was also mostly appropriate. Nigerian movies now have  sound tracks that do not tell the whole story. Yaaay!!

In summary, the movie was not perfect by any means, but it was gooooood! Finger licking good. If you like to watch Nigerian movies for the drama, you will enjoy this one. Vivian did good. Standing O for this one.

Worldview/ Philosophy/ Important lessons: All that glitters is not gold. Gina was much envied by her friends for her hot, hunky, rich, super attractive man. Hmm. There is a scene where her friend tells her “ my dear this is husband o. Alex is a big fish!” And yet none of that gave her any peace or joy. Only pain. Bottomline is this: what you have will never be as important as who you are. Anyone looking for a relationship, take note!!

There was also a lot of premarital sex – between Gina and Alex, and also between Jason and whoever the flavor of the month was. This is not one of those nasty movies that is basically soft porn – nope this was waaay classier than those, but it is important to note that sex does not a relationship make, and young people need to think about the lessons they subliminally imbibe even from good movies like this one.

Rating: 8.5/10. Yes, despite all the flaws, Ramsey and OmoT sold it to me. I am now a Vivian Ejike fan.

Availability: All the three major online retailers have it in stock. Get your copy nooowww!!