One of the romantic comedies that rocked the streets of 2020 was the stunning movie titled, Kambili: The Whole 30 Yards. Directed by one of the renowned directors in the industry, Kayode Kasum, and starring top movie stars this movie is a banger.Kambili features A-list stars which as Nancy Isime, Toyin Abraham, Venita Akpofure, Uzor Arukwe, Sharon Ooja, Mawuli Gavor, Jide Kene Achufusi, and others.
This movie centers on a young lady names Kambili who is determined to get married before she turns 30. Her boyfriend breaks up with her few days before her 29th birthday spoiling her plans. So she tries to change her impulsive and scattered way to prove to him that she can be wife material, the whole 30 yards of it.
Some of the major themes this movie centers on are love, family, and true friendship.
Is it interesting, YES! but do the elements that make up the entire production kill it? lets find out.
Firstly we definitely have to talk about the storyline which is lovely actually, cliche but lovely.
The story of best friends falling in love takes out some of the fun but it still has strong points in between.
The fact that the manner in which the two best friends Kambili (Nancy Isime) and Chidi (Jide Kene Achufusi) revealed their love for one another was super cute and not the regular manner, that helped spice things up even after it went down the cliche line.
Now speaking of the characterization, did the lead characters take the money?, of course, they did. READ ALSO: Movie Review: Dear Affy Is A Missed Shot At A Romantic Comedy
Nancy Isime once again proved that she is not just talented but versatile. We love how natural all the characters were from the beginning to the ending, and that was refreshing to watch. From an impulsive yet intelligent young lady to a comported and still intelligent young lady, Nancy made a good switch there.
We definitely have to give it to Jide Kene, he was superb. Of course, the Ibo accent was on point, I bet he didn’t have to struggle to get it, lol. The little things that make up a character were so on point here; Like the habit of sweating whenever his feeling for Kambili heightened, we can see that in the scene where he confessed his feelings to her and also in the art gallery where she and John (Mawuli Gavor) were about leaving together. Also, how he stares at her from time to time. He was consistent in portraying these little features, which helped us build and understand the personality of his character, Just lovely. He definitely took the bag here and all the money with it.
Another character that surely did a good job is Biodun (Venita Akpofure). This lady was as natural as one can get. She literarily wowed her audience, the way she switched emotions and portrayed those switches was so professional. Venita definitely is in the right industry, no cap.
One thing every character got right in this movie was the natural aspect, so on point.
Now moving on to the costume and make-up, the costumes were a bit shaky; come on, who gave Kambili the blue dress she wore for the opening of her art gallery, plus the hat! come on man. READ ALSO: Movie Review: ‘This Lady Called Life’ Is A Must Watch For Parents
I get the kind of idea they were trying to portray with Cynthia, Kambili’s mum (Elvina Ibru), but they just didn’t pull it off at all. Who was the hairstylist of the production, did they forget that Kambili had one wig on, like one wig from the beginning, and then when she because the focused Kambili they changed the wig, to what, to symbolize new character, new wig! come on. Biodun had one wig throughout, Cynthia had on braids throughout. Come on, tell me what is the time length of this movie; like this whole drama happened within the space of how many months, that they all had on one hairstyle, really. That surely killed the height of verisimilitude mehn.
Again who did those brows for Kambili! my God. The make-up was good in some scenes and in other scenes just not good. The costume and make-up could have been better, big time.
The director Kayode Kasum as usual did a good job, but there were some loopholes in the cinematography. We can’t say there was a smooth transition from scene to scene; this factor was missing but it wasn’t all that bad.
The musicality of this movie helped raise the bar. Back to back, they maintained one genre of music while using the music to reinforce the intended mood of each scene, beautiful.
It is once again nice to see a movie that portrays its theme and maintains that theme till the end; Not dwindling at any point in passing across the intended message. Final Thoughts
The movie Kambili: The Whole 30yards shows that there is indeed hope for Nollywood. The movie is a representation of the struggles most youth face in a bid for acceptance. Generally, this movie gets a 7 as there is definitely room for improvement.
Watch the trailer below;
Kambili features A-list stars which as Nancy Isime, Toyin Abraham, Venita Akpofure, Uzor Arukwe, Sharon Ooja, Mawuli Gavor, Jide Kene Achufusi, and others.
Trending video of the day;
