Ghanaian Movie Review
Chelsea ~ 2010
Story – Abdul Salam Mumuni
Screenplay – Afe Olumowe
Director – Moses Inwang
Producer – Abdul Salam Mumuni
Starring:
Majid Michel – Sylvester
Brenda Bonsu – Katy
John Dumelo – Marlon
Nadia Buari – Chelsea
Sa-Ada Sadiq – Cashier
Rispa Nyumutsu – Waitress
Amanorbea Dodoo – Chelsea Mum
Roger Quartey –Chauffeur
Jonathan Pali Sherren – Chelsea Dad
Dan Tei-Mensah – Greg
Artus Frank – Gideon (Chelsea’s Brother)
Themes:
Spirituality African Movie
Dreams in Nollywood
Revenge in Nollywood
My Rating – 76%
Sylvester played by Majid Michel is an artist who for the past four years has been obsessed by a girl that he has never met. He sees her in his dreams, and has such a clear picture of her in his head that he is able to sketch her portrait in detail. He cannot believe his luck when he actually meets the girl of his dreams in person. She turns out to be Chelsea (Nadia Buari) a friend of his childhood sweetheart Katy (Brenda Bonsu). He begins a relentless campaign to win her affections. Will he ever get the girl? We also see Chelsea’s boss Marlon vying for her affection, but everything is not as it appears on the surface.
**************SPOILERS*************
Mystery
This movie started off well for me. I loved the dramatic beginning with the tension filled chorded music. Even the credits made an impression on me with the names shown as splashes in waves of water. A very nice touch I must say. The stylishness of it all made me want to watch more, and I’m happy to say that the level of dramatic tension was sustained throughout the movie. I never felt bored or like I was sure what was going to happen next. Ghana
The mystery starts from the very beginning. We hear Sly (as he is fondly called by his wannabe girlfriend Katy) talk constantly about “her” and immediately you begin to wonder who exactly “her” is. Is she a ghost, a figment of his imagination or someone he once saw that will not leave his mind? This whole scenario reminded me a bit of Emerald and the whole being connected on a spiritual level storyline but this story was executed a whoooole lot better and more thought provoking.
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The “Porn” Element
John Dumelo gets buck naked. It was not gratuitous or “pornish”, it was simply a man getting into a bath No doubt the purists will be on their game, stomping their feets and outraged at the sight of a man’s behind. Fugg what ya heard I loved the sight of it, and so will all of the women out their that love sexy, brown, hot chocolate Even the sex scene at the end of part two I thought was very tastefully shot. It was more sensual than explicit, with just flashes or arm, back and hands gripping the bed.
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Acting
Both Majid Michel and BrendaBonsu played their roles well and I could feel the pain and emotional anguish on both parts. Majid excelled himself. I felt every portion of what he felt. He is most definitely in my top 3 Nollywood Actor list He just needs to make sure he stays away from movies like Gangster Prince and he will soar. John Dumelo was great as Marlon. Charismatic, cocky, arrogant, callous and scheming, he was all that and more. Nadia Buari fit the innocent virgin part well. Great casting on the part of the film makers.
The one actor that really put a spanner in the works was Jonathan Pali Sherren who played Chelsea’s Dad. In the beginning I didn’t notice how dreadful he was because he didn’t say more than one line. Oh the horror when Marlon came to ask him for Chelsea’s hand in marriage! I was CRINGING. He was so unconvincing; it was as though a prompter were right in from of him as he was reciting with no attention being paid to the words being said. If you must stick in horrors like this it is a good idea that they DO NOT SPEAK!
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Memorable Scenes
My favourite scene was the part where Chelsea ceremoniously refuses Marlon’s proposal in front of all the company staff and tells him about himself on top of it. I had to give her a round of applause on behalf of all the women that he toyed with. It was great to see Marlon get the comeuppance he so deserved.
I was sooo sad for Chelsea at the end of Part 2 just before he takes her virginity. I just knew that Marlon had something wicked was planned for her when he told her,
“Nobody is going to understand what will happen afterwards except your husband”
Her naïveté wouldn’t let her read between the lines, but then again you wouldn’t expect your own husband to set you up on your wedding night after you have vowed to remain with each other through thick and thin.
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You What?
There were a few things that I found to totally defy logic. There is a scene were Marlon turns up at Chelsea’s family house, not long after she has gained employment with the company and offers her plane tickets to “5 European countries, 2 Caribbean.” He tells her to take a month of work to use them. This was completely unnecessary and far fetched. I mean seriously, why not just one country? Who is doing 7 countries in one month? I understood that it was to show how extravagant Marlon could be, but it just did not work for me. Ghanaian Movie
Another thing that I shook my head at was the scene where Marlon newly born again comes to a work meeting and starts doing some hardcore preaching like it was a church service. That was totally inappropriate in a work setting. He didn’t need to do all that for the viewer to get that the guy is crusading for Jesus. It could have been a little more subtle. Chelsea of course was impressed by his big show of faith.
There seemed to be some confusion with the stance of Chelsea’s Dad, played by Jonathan Pali Sherren with regards to the marriage. Marlon asks Chelsea’s father for her hand in marriage and is told that the choice lies with Chelsea, but then it was strange because we then hear him telling his wife how the marriage between Chelsea and Marlon will be beneficial to him as he is seeking a contract with Marlon’s company, then we see him try to persuade Chelsea to go ahead with the marriage. You are either going to have him leave the choice to her or force her into it, not both, that didn’t make sense. Ghana
Why was Chelsea harping on and on about not wanting to marry Marlon because he didn’t tell her parents that he loved her. I thought that this was very weird because he DID tell them that he loved her. It was also weitd that her parents didn’t correct her on that. ghana
I loved the dream storyline but I am so surprised that Katy fell for it and did not at least accuse him of knowing Chelsea beforehand. As a girlfriend or someone that was interested in him you would think that that would be her reaction once she saw the picture that Sly drew of Chelsea, or perhaps she was confident that there was no possible way that they could have met before. If indeed that was the case I would have expected her to be way more freaked out than she was. That would have been a more realistic scenario to me.
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I would highly recommend this movie. It was well casted, intense and original. I was however disappointed that by the end of two parts there was more to watch that I didn’t have. I guess I’ll just have to anxiously await the release of part 3. There was also eye candy for the guys and the girls. It just goes to show that you don’t need to get these awful non actors to play roles based solely on their good looks. There is beauty and talent out there. THUMBS UP!
UPDATE
After watching the part 3 to this movie I amended the rating from 82% to 76%. I’d still say it is well worth watching because the beginning was so good but the part 3 let the whole movie down big time. Alot of the beginning was repetition and the ending was just anticlimactic. I don’t know whether the fact that I had to wait around to watch the Part 3 just made me that little bit more disinterested.
I too had a problem with the timelines used. A few weeks or 4 years? Why did Chelsea sometimes refer to them having been together for 4 years. She wasn’t the one dreaming about him so how did that make sense?
What was up with her referring to Marlon causing her father to die? She just threw it out there and then there was no elaboration. Why mention it at all in that case?
My main problem with the part 3 was Marlon suddenly deciding that he loved Chelsea so bad that he was going to go to the moon if he had to to find her… FAKE! If it really was only a few weeks then how did it go from her begging him to stay and him mercilessly throwing her out to him declaring his undying love for her?
I would have understood if it were simply a power thing and he wanted control over her, or if he simply just wanted to take what his brother now had but none of this was indicated in the story which made the whole thing so so bizarre. What made him decide that he now loved her? What was the turning point? We don’t see any of this which makes the whole scenario higjhly unbelievable.
Abdul Salam Mumuni, you considered well when you wrote the movie. Keep it up
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