MOVIE REVIEW: The CEO
Team bonding is a fond ritual for us at Plug Media so this month, our gorgeous clients Adesuwa Onyenokwe and the TW team, joined forces with us to go see The CEO by Kunle Afolayan at the cinemas.
The movie is a thriller-mind twister that takes us on the emotional journey of five intelligent type A individuals vying for the position of CEO at Trans Wire Telecommunications.
The movie had a great storyline with relatable real life internal conflicts- the saying ‘a guilty conscience needs no accuser comes to mind.’ We are exposed to the dubious lives of each character underneath their outward integrity.
The simple task of choosing a CEO becomes frightening when each candidate begins to die after losing to the musical chair game- an unorthodox method of self-elimination administered by a mysterious Dr Zimmerman.
The dialogue was impeccable and the movie was shot on a private beach resort in Lagos which gave the location a pristine picture quality. The Pan African characters made the movie appealing not only to Nigerians but viewers across the African continent.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from music legend Angelique Kidjo but the role she played of- the cold sinister Dr Zimmerman, was apt for her limited acting talent. Where she fails to deliver a robust character interpretation, we are tempted to blame her stoic character and not necessarily her lack of skill.
Now to the cons; I wish Nigerian directors would understand that there are no minor roles in a movie. The policemen and the beach attendants failed woefully to deliver their roles.
They were so obviously out of sync in their silence that they left a deeper void than if they were not in the film at all. In one scene at the police station, in the middle of the interrogation with ‘Kola’ (played by Wale Ojo) an off camera moment of a police officer snickering was included in the final cut. Between the actor who should have been in the moment, and the editor, who should have spliced that cut out of the final picture, I’m not sure who should be blamed.
Finally ‘Lisa’ played be Kemi Lala Akindoju was completely in character until she flipped roles at the end. Her ending role was a tough pill to swallow and a poor and painful interpretation to watch. The scene where she attacked Kola seemed a little unreal.
All that said, the sound track, the costumes, the lines and the plot makes The CEO a must watch. Regardless of its flaws, (and every great movie has flaws), I would watch THE CEO again.
Moroti Olatujoye studied Theatre Arts at the University of Lagos. She is a Media Content Executive at Plug Media.