Beloved RedTV web series The Men’s Club has released some Christmas-themed episodes to celebrate the holidays and this has been a delight to the show’s many fans.
The three episodes mainly show the newly-married Louis and Lola’s love story; as they narrate it to their friends over a 70s-themed Christmas dinner. And while it has been lauded by viewers, I, unfortunately, am not a fan.
Let’s get right into the review. There will be spoilers…
Lola’s mother is in a relationship with Lanre and Lola’s reaction to it is annoying. She acts like her mother is not an adult and a sexual being, but a child who needs to be protected from a predatory younger man? It is clear that she is uncomfortable with the relationship. However, her treatment of Lanre is uncalled for.
The mistaken text looks like an unnatural, forced attempt by the writers to create conflict in the story. And they failed to play up the humour aspect of it.
The dialogues are rife with more recent Twitter slangs in a way that tries to force resonance with the audience. It seems like this is an attempt to bulk up the run-time to three episodes because I see no reason why that story could not have fit into one episode; or at most two, one for Christmas and one for the New Year.
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They could have instead bulked up the story with Tonye giving birth to Louis’ child. It seemed like an afterthought and kind of random, given that Tonye was only mentioned in passing throughout the three episodes.
Tayo pines for Tiara for most of his screentime, but the music and the acting fail to set the tone to enable the audience truly empathise with how he feels. A frowny face and the normal The Men’s Club soundtrack with Christmas edit to celebrate the holidays simply doesn’t cut it.
Louis and Lola are married now and finally narrating how exactly they met and got together. The flashbacks are choppy and drawn out and I got very bored watching them acting out their scenes as if they were improvising. The whole interaction was too long and not striking enough for me.
From the Christmas party to the beach brunch, every scene could have gone better. It could have been more intimate, more concise. There should have been a clear emphasis on their friendships and how far they had come together. Culminating this in the birth of Louis and Tonye’s child could have been all the more touching.
I got what they were going for, but that is not enough. It should have matched the intensity of a tough year spent together going through difficult changes. But it misses its chance and settles for being wasted time and Christmas enjoyment galore.
