All is Fair in Love
Directed by: Deyemi Okanlawon
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Released on: February 14, 2024 (Cinemas)
Language: English
What happens when you have a brilliant idea, a great cast, excellent cinematography, and all the ingredients needed for a blockbuster movie, but it just doesn’t hit? You have All is Fair in Love. Deyemi Okanlawon’s directorial debut had all the necessary elements to get it right but it didn’t quite work out and here’s why.
The Plot
All is Fair in Love is about two friends, Demi (Deyemi Okanlawon) and Kola (Timini Egbuson) who own a fashion company. The two of them struggle to keep the company afloat while simultaneously falling in love with the same woman, Mbali (Buhle Samuels), who happens to work for both of them. It is a pretty straightforward plot, but there is a twist that I personally feel should have been revealed much earlier: Mbali is a con woman trying to make them sell their company to a money launderer, Chief (Ireti Doyle).
Role Interpretation
The cast was star-studded, with both newcomers and veterans. Let’s analyse how each cast member performed:
Timini underacted; it’s one of his worst roles to date. There was no heart or soul in his performance; didn’t he want to be on set? Deyemi was too extra, especially given the sheer number of scenes he was shirtless in. Was it really necessary?
Buhle acted her role perfectly, and we have to commend her costume designer for putting in the most gorgeous gowns. Doyle delivered effortlessly, but we have to wonder if she was given more dialogue; her performance would have rivalled Sola Sobowale’s Oba in “King of Boys”.
There were so many irrelevant cameos. Adedimeji Lateef playing a tailor, Beauty Tukura, a model who barely had any dialogue, Venita Akpofure, an ex who doesn’t add much to the story except reveal Demi doesn’t want commitment, and Kenzy Udosen, an Instagram comedian whose portrayal of a feminine man fell so flat—he already wears wigs and acts like a woman on Instagram—why couldn’t he do that in a movie? His theatrics lacked the appropriate punch.
Cinematography
The quality of the movie was top-notch: bright moving pictures, beautiful angles, and their portrayal of Lagos Island, especially the aerial shots, was brilliant.
Verdict
Once again, the movie got it wrong with its casting and storyline. They failed to build up the required suspense until the tail end of the movie, which means they spent a good deal of time just introducing the characters and telling us their stories. Yawns. Boring!
All is Fair in Love should have begun with the highest tension and conflict and capture the audience. It will be another unmemorable Nigerian cinema release that should never have happened.
Rating: 2/5
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