Shirley Frimpong Manso's Love or Something Like that as a headline film of Nollywodweek 2015

Shirley Frimpong Manso's Love or Something Like that as a headline film of Nollywodweek 2015
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Tuesday 12 June 2012

MOVIE RUN By Shaibu Husseini


Not all that a 'Perfect Church'

A day before I saw The Perfect Church, Wale Adenuga’s latest odyssey into the big blank Nollywood space, I recalled that I mentioned to a friend and I think also my wife that I may be lucky to find the feature film more eventful and thought provoking than I will find several episodes of his Super Story series.  Although I suspected that from the title tragedy will just be about twenty minutes away from the start of the movie, I have followed Wale Adenuga’s works on television, particularly the popular Super Story series and I don’t know of any episode of the Super Story series that missed the mark.  The stories are always with a strong central core and they are in most cases told with characters that we care about and actors who can get our whole attention. So it was with great expectation that I heeled to the National Theatre during the Easter break to see the movie, which was promoted as an inspirational movie from Wale Adenuga productions. I was told that it premiered before a quality crowd at the Silverbird Galleria but that it didn’t do well in the cinema during its post premiere showing. So it was also out of curiosity, to know why moviegoers didn’t find this work by a master motion picture practitioner compelling, that I raced to see the movie at the National Theatre on the eve of the April 26 Gubernatorial election.   But as the credit line rolled up, I quickly made a few notes so I don’t forget and I remember that the first comment I made was that there was a better place for movies like that, than the cinema and that place is the tele-movie slot on broadcast television. I think it could have mustered up the emotional grandeur it aims for if it has been made into series.

Anyway, Perfect Church tells several stories; all centered on a randy Pentecostal pastor of this archetypal Perfect Church and some stinking members of his congregation. You should know the rest of the story from here: church is deserted when some faithful discover that the church of God stinks; those who have not been serving God in spirit and in truth seek God’s face and are redeemed, those who turn a new leaf are rewarded and it goes on and on.

By far a slow running piece that veers off in innumerable thematic directions, there is a good movie somewhere in The Perfect Church. The ideas are certainly there but the movie strains under a scattershot script that could have benefited from another look and strains also under the weight of its own ambition-to tell what should have been better served over several weeks on television in 120 minutes.


Directed by Bambo Adabajo whose directorial ability seem tentative and starring some of the sectors recognizable faces like Olu Jacobs, Funke Akindele, Hakeem Rahman and Ngozi Ezeonu, the auteur gets the subject right- about the need to be humble, God fearing, steadfast, tenacious and the need to turn a new leaf is it is never too late to seek God’s forgiveness, but he never figures out how to make a compelling movie out of the material at his disposal until the movies near 120 painful minutes of existence.  Although it possesses a handful of memorable comedic set pieces, I have seen countless Nollywood movies with similar storylines (Church in Crisis, War in the Church and Crisis in the Lords Vineyard) to know that the movie generally needs some more strings to tie its disconnected scenes into a cohesive movie. Take Church in Crisis from the stable of Kingsley Ogoro production for instance. The scintillating perversity and ambitious stylization which Perfect Church lacks was what was the auteur in Church in Crisis employed to call attention to the film.  Unlike Church in Crisis, Perfect Church plays out like an extremely rough sketch of a much smarter film. The movies execution feels not only half-hearted but its lack of dramatic punch coupled with so many scenes of indecision and second guessing, renders it overlong for the kind of theme that runs through its vein.

I will not waist ink on the unconvincing manner the issue of same sex relationship was handled. I will also not bother to ask why such a huge parish will be handed over to a fellow who is still single, but I think the film scored well in the acting department.  Indeed it is to the film benefit that the inimitable Ramsey Noah assumes a lead as the stinking pastor. It is also to the film benefit that the dean of them all Olu Jacobs found a cameo here. But I don’t think this will represent one of the best performances by Ramsey in his eventful career as an actor. No it is not. The award winning actor lost his compelling earthy presence here. He stood at a distance in most part of the film. Hakeem Rahman who played the randy husband was good even though he tends to overact. Olu Jacob who played the visiting Bishop acquitted himself as always. But he sounded so incoherent during his short sermon where he won new converts. It was as if he was asked to improvise. Ngozi Ezeonu was brilliant as the jilted housewife. We saw her carry very well the weight of such world events on her expressive face. Her convincing portrayal contributed in giving the movie its acting credits.  

See the film. While it does not pretend to be cerebral like most works from the stable of Wale Adenuga productions, it excites and also lives up to its title especially in thematic trajectory. But true not every work by a master painter is a masterpiece.