Samuel “Big Sam” Olatunji’s Dear Affy premiered on Sunday, just in time for its Valentine’s Day release. Fortunately, we were present at the Dear Affy premiere so you get a review before the movie drops on Friday!
This Film One romantic comedy has all the ingredients to be a box office beloved; from an all-star cast, a comeback and two cameos, great costume design, and most importantly, a holiday release.
So what exactly am I complaining about this week? Well…
ATTENTION! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
The plot
Dear Affy follows the ordeals of an about-to-be-wed couple who fall under quite unfortunate circumstances. Affy and Michael are weeks away from their wedding and can’t wait to break their 18-month celibacy. And then everything comes crashing down.
Michael is on the verge of losing his job if he fails to secure a deal that will save the company. He has only one hope of saving his job and having enough money to pay for his wedding; indulging the propositions of Mrs Douglas, a multimillionaire real estate developer.
Desperate and conflicted, Michael goes through with it. He gets the deal and a huge commission and everything seems great until shit hits the fan…
Affy finds out that he cheated on her and calls off the wedding.
Heartbroken and distraught, Affy goes to the club with her friends and gets wasted. She wakes up after a blackout, only to find out weeks later that she is pregnant.
Unable to go through with an abortion, she resolves to find out the father of her unplanned pregnancy. This leads her down a humorous search for the unlikely characters she might have gotten involved with.
Meanwhile, Michael seeks revenge on Mrs Douglas for ruining his life, blackmailing her with an audio clip of their affair. He keeps trying to get Affy back and she agrees to be with him on the condition that he accepts her baby.
The cast
The all-star cast of Dear Affy stars Kehinde Bankole as Affy, Enyinna Nwigwe as Michael, and a screen goddess Bimbo Akintola making her comeback.
Dear Affy also features Bimbo Ademoye, Jide Kosoko, Bianca Ugo, Ali Nuhu, Timini Egbuson, Uzee Usman, Toyin Abraham, MC Lively, Chinedu Ikedieze, Chiwetalu Agu, and Odunlade Adekola.
Toyin Abraham’s husband Kolawole Ajeyemi also stars in the film. In addition to that, BBNaija star Sir Dee and singer Teni Entertainer made their acting debuts in Dear Affy.
The accolades
For this review, I have to commend Dear Affy for not overselling itself. It is exactly what it said it was; a sexy romantic comedy. There is so much to look at in every scene and screen. The wardrobe is perfect and the humour was great.
The general feel of the movie was light, fun, and sweet. In the few scenes that the OG Jide Kosoko was in, his acting was so good that he might have as well been the main character.
Bianca Ugo and Bimbo Ademoye play their characters so effortlessly and help push the plot forward with unhelpful help and hilarious banter. Their friendship was quite believable.
In fact, all the supporting characters were so good at supporting that I imagine that Big Sam had such an easy job directing.
The plot was also quite nice, original with enough material for the actors to work with. The conflicts were valid and the characters were very relatable.
Dragging time
The biggest gripe with this movie was the missing scenes. It reminds me of The Legend of Inikpi where the culminating scene; the part where the purpose of the sacrifice manifested, was just not there.
It was so annoying when Dear Affy disobeyed the cardinal rule of filmmaking; show, don’t tell. It would have been so entertaining to see how Affy found out she was pregnant, as opposed to just getting a home pregnancy test and an explanation.
It is as though the run time had gotten too long or they were just a bit lazy when it came to shooting that scene.
Unfortunately, this is not the only missing scene. We also don’t get to find out how exactly Affy finds Sir Dee’s character.
Useless characters
Also, it seemed as though much of the cast was stuffed in based on their fanbase, not on their relevance to the story. This is the only explanation for Toyin Abraham, Odunlade Adekola, Fathia Balogun, Timini Egbuson, Teni Entertainer, and Chinedu Ikedieze’s characters.
The “Dear Affy” segment of the Dear Affy movie isn’t so central to the story and looks like an afterthought interjecting at random points in the movie.
In addition to that, I found Affy’s interruption of Michael’s conquest quite rude and presumptuous; not something that would happen in real life nor lead to a relationship and marriage.
Also, the wedding of Obiora (Williams Uchemba) and Fathia Balogun’s characters was so random. I personally do not appreciate two-dimensional characters whose only roles are to bring comic relief, even in serious parts of their lives.
Sir Dee’s acting was hysterical, annoying, and reminiscent of a high school drama club. Lastly, the fight scene between Teni and Odunlade was nothing short of annoying.
All in all, this is a great movie whose flaws would have been brushed over by a second or third opinion. Maybe more editing is being done before its final release on Friday. It would do it some good.
Rating: 7/10