With Screenplay by Abrahams Onkenny, directed by Ben Cassie, produced by Uchenna Mbunabo (also as cast director) and Executively Produced by Uche Montana (also starring as Esther/Extra), is this movie titled “A Lady & Her Gentleman”.
Having a runtime of 2hours 23minutes, this film attempts to highlight the struggles of a poor family, sex trafficking, sacrifices for family, consequences of fear/intimidation and the burning desire to fight & protect for love.
ABOUT THEMOVIE(May include spoilers) 🚨
Esther ‘Extra’ (Uche Montana) is forced against her will into prostitution as a teenager after her mother abandons them due to their level of poverty and her father being unable to pay the debts he owes to Jega (Iheanacho Sammy).
Many years down the line, with a cash payout from his Bitcoin trading, Sean (Clinton Joshua) & his brother take to the club where Sean sets his eyes on Extra who is seen dancing as a stripper. It is love on the spot! Sean would do anything to get Extra to be his girl, their age difference notwithstanding.
MY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS
I’d like to appreciate the mutual respect both lead actors, Clinton and Uche share in this movie both onscreen & seemingly offscreen. It was evident. However, this is not different from the recent much talked about Nollywood narrative of a younger guy falling in love with an older lady. In fact, it was painted and plastered throughout the plot of the movie.
Even if this particular projection was the first of its kind as far as Nollywood is concerned, in my honest opinion, the story would have made much more impact were Sean an older man in the story (possibly same age with Extra or slightly older). And I mean this!
Now, picture that Stan Nze, Uzor Arukwe, Daniel Etim-Effiong, Kunle Remi, Ray Emodi, Frederick Leonard or even Timini Egbuson had played the character of Sean, eliminating all the “younger boy lover” thingy, this story would have been more endearing if you ask me.
While the story itself (apart from the age stuff) is a beautiful one, the plot, however, is not as compelling. The build-up was absolutely not believable. Candidly, this story had huge prospects, but the plot lacked a climax as it got lost in trying to push an already overly used narrative.
Firstly, Extra’s father is portrayed as a weakling; a coward who couldn’t defend his family against threats and danger. How he ended up this way to appear so handicapped and vulnerable (poverty aside), we don’t know.
Secondly, the scene where a younger Extra (played by Pearl Shim) is seen talking back at Jega (the oppressor/predator/creditor, which led him taking her as collateral for her father’s debt is not only unfounded, it was poorly acted as per scripting and interpretation. The words she used were not relatable to their circumstances. She ended up exposing the family the more. I know she was trying to be brave, but naaah, that was sheer stupidity!
Thirdly, a young guy hits a jackpot, and the next thing that comes to his mind is booking a prostitute, quadrupling the price. Well, I guess young guys who make easy money can relate to that, though. But my point is that he appeared to be decent in his thought process. How come, he’d go lavishing money in that manner?
Fourthly, the first time we see Extra go visit her dad, there’s tragedy. The very next thing, we see her back at the brothel. For what exactly? For the customers to contribute and help her bury her dead? She had a phone. Why didn’t she call her boss?
Fifthly, the scene where Sean goes to talk sense into Extra’s brother Timothy, that tussle was far from believable. And what was that chaos later on outside the brothel? A man that was presented as powerful and as brutal as Jega could be harassed enough to run away that cheaply? Oh, puuuuleeease!
In fact, I have more questions:
Just how much money did Extra’s father borrow from Jega?
What was the reason why he borrowed the amount he borrowed?
We saw Extra taken into sex slavery from a teenage age to adulthood and still was indebted to Jega. We understand that she was the favorite for all the brothel customers. And we also understand that the customers were paying in 6-digits (500k, etc) to the knowledge of Extra’s. She was being booked on a steady. For many years, how come the debt remained yet unpaid? Please make it make sense!
We heard Extra telling her dad at his death bed that she’s almost done paying the debt. We also heard Sean’s brother saying that Extra had finished paying the debts, but Jega was still hell-bent on keeping her for his personal satisfaction. Isn’t that confusing?
Alright…let’s forge ahead!
Although the acting here was good from most of the actors (some requiring brush-offs in their acting skills), the cinematography was, however, not impressive. Lighting was poor, and as a result, the pictures appeared darker than they should for the most parts even when it’s day time. The duration of the movie too didn’t help matter either. At most, 1hour 48minutes should have been more than enough for the plot.
Overall, I can’t say I enjoyed this, but it wasn’t entirely bad. Some may find it interesting and entertaining, but this wasn’t for me in its entirety.
This story was not compelling enough. It failed in its direction and more so got lost in its choice of approach to storytelling.
To that, I'd rate it a 4/10.
Until next time...BYE!