The 2019 drama Cold Feet recently became available for streaming on Netflix and it came highly recommended. Starring eye candies like Joselyn Dumas, Enyinna Nwigwe, Jim Iyke, and Beverly Naya, I knew going into it that I was in for a treat.
Plot
Produced and directed by Moses Inwang, Cold Feet follows Omoye (Joselyn Dumas), a woman on vacation with her husband Rt Col. Mayowa (Jim Iyke). Omoye runs into an old flame Tare (Enyinna Nwigwe), who is on vacation with his girlfriend (Beverly Naya) whom he plans to propose to.
On seeing Omoye again, Tare obsessively tries to reignite the spark; causing a lot of trouble for the two couples.
The review
A lot of the issues I have with this movie are pet peeves and mildly irritating plot problems.
Tare’s relentless pursuit of Omoye despite the fact that she is a married woman is the first plot point of the story. This conflict is exacerbated by Omoye’s daft decision to keep the affair a secret from her husband; fearing that him finding out would ruin her marriage. Or was that really it? We will get right back to this point real quick.
For an affair to be that disruptive to anyone’s life, does it not need to be passionate?
Apparently not. There is an utter lack of passion and chemistry between Omoye and Tare; nothing that suggests that fiery and uncontrollable lust that the movie tries to force us into believing.
Even in Omoye’s flashbacks of their fling five years ago, the interactions seem too lacklustre to provoke the kind of longing Tare has for her. If the flashbacks had shown an immediate connection or an obvious spark, it would have been more understandable.
Omoye talks over and over about how Tare made her feel, but we never get to see it because there really isn’t anything there. That makes us dislike Omoye even more because there is no valid or relatable reason for her infidelity.
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Honestly, the attraction between Omoye and Tare just seems forced. They met at a conference with no name, talked about ketchup, and had sex. Who cares??
Maybe this has something to do with Enyinna Nwigwe not delivering his lines properly. Tare’s words fail to send the message of what is going on under the surface. Most of the time, it looks like he is just talking, not believing it himself.
The Tare character is highly unlikeable and honestly, disgusting. Fickle and lustful, the character and the movie do his girlfriend (Beverly Naya) dirty; cheating on her and cheating her character out of a real personality. In fact, we could remove her from the story altogether and only have to make minimal writing changes.
Tare’s character constantly harasses Omoye, even sexually assaulting her in the elevator; and then has the gall to speak to her husband face to face without a sliver of guilt. He also had the audacity to sing in front of a crowd without a second of thought as to how his shallow lust was affecting everyone and everything.
And this leads to the second biggest problem I have with this movie, which is the third act.
Nollywood clearly has a problem with writing a good third act and it is time to address that.
We know that Jim Iyke’s character is a retired colonel as he drummed it into our ears from the beginning of the movie. Unfortunately, all this information was useless because this entire movie builds up to nothing.
I would compare it to taking a ride on the rollercoaster, waiting as the car slowly climbs to the top; only to have to ride back down as slowly as it climbed. The fear and the anticipation, all for nothing.
Admittedly, Jim Iyke carried this whole movie on his back. But I think I speak for everyone when I say that thinking, “Oh wait till her husband finds out”, we were not thinking sneaking around with a gun and going for marriage counselling.
The movie gets progressively more annoying when Rtd. Col. Mayowa becomes the only one making attempts to recover the remains of his marriage. The audience is left confused; asking, “Who cheated on who and who is begging?”
This move completely cheats Mayowa on his story arc. He is the victim in this movie; someone who Omoye hurt. The resolution should have everyone apologize to him; or at least, show up remorsefully to marriage counselling.
Omoye is completely unrepentant and continues to defend her action; giving off this air of nonchalance even though she is actually one of the villains in this movie. With the manner in which the story progressed, Omoye has no right to approach her decision the way she did.
It is almost as if her marriage meant absolutely nothing to her and she was lowkey glad it was over. And from how natural and loving the relationship looked, that’s not the kind of movie we expected.
But she ends up remarrying him, so WHICH IS IT?
The ending of Cold Feet is unbelievable because no self-respecting woman would take Tare back. He only went through with the wedding because Omoye rejected him and that is repulsive. We never get to see Tare repent of or pay for his actions.
Never in the history of writing has a character been so disrespected as much as, Tare’s girlfriend; whose name the viewer will not remember after three days, was disrespected. The proper thing for Tare to do would be to take some time to think about his life and the reason why he’s such a lustful asshole.
Also, there is a very obvious problem with the sound editing for Cold Feet. Whether it’s the soundtrack not properly translating the scene or the volume being louder in some scenes; the sound in this movie is completely out of whack.
On a side note, Omoye’s writing is terrible and if you had a drink for every time Rt Col. Mayowa said “baby” in this movie, you’d be asleep long before they roll credits. He also switched accents severally throughout the movie.
Furthermore, the entire movie seemed like it was blatantly trying to advertise the Ibom Resort. This was overkill because the best kind of advertising is the one you’re not aware of. But we were aware, very much so.
The summary of the matter is that the premise of Cold Feet is flawed. The audience grapples with the main point of the movie because the characters face zero consequences for their actions and the resolution is not as complex as the topic of infidelity.
