Asides the fact that the title, Family Riot is a tad cheesy, it gives us a hint on what the movie is about, and that basically is, a rioting family. Lol.
Good day and welcome to another review by Goodness. It’s been a while, whew!
A home of four -a deacon of a father who is a closest drunk, a petty wife, a bespectacled geeky son and a daughter- are caught right in the middle of their daily life saga in Family Riot. Mr Olakunle, the father is among other things a debtor. This isn’t helped with the fact that his online side chick is ever demanding and he cannot say no. So when the news of a monetary assignment hits him, it’s a thing of joy. It does not matter that the money is from his Pastor or that it’s supposed to be used for a cause different from what is on his plan, it doesn’t matter that he would be stealing or misappropriating funds. What matters is, there is money to blow on Cecilia, his girl.
Olakunle’s wife is petty, very petty, and Olakunle is just her match. We have two grown ups, two parents, having devotion in the presence of their children and they see this as an avenue to throw and send back shades in the guise of prayers. While the parents are so caught up in their selfish cause, there are the children who are not missing any detail and are being affected.
The story continues, more and more drama till the screentime is over.
The genre of Family Riot has to be Comedy and then Drama. Of course the sub genre is Gospel. It’s largely comical, employing awkward moments, drama and rejoinders to evoke laughter from its audience and all the while not losing the essence of the story, or it’s messages. It’s major themes are: Hypocrisy, how that children closely observe their parents and sometimes rehash their actions, how one’s spouse is mostly what you made of them.
Speaking generally, the actors deliver well. But now to the specifics, Adedamola Salako as Olakunle does too much at some points. We all know that Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde is a good actor, I would refer to The Vineyard Assembly’s Neema, where she plays Gloria, as the best I have seen of her so far. And it’s in the light of her past feats and the expectations one would have of an actor like Opeyemi Akintunde that I say that she is not at her best in Family Riot. At a point she was tethering on the brink of melodrama.
David Babalola as the silly, protagonist, Akin, flows beautifully, I only noted one glitch with the part where he flares up while writing a diary entry, his outrage was mechanical. It would seem Mount Zion has a strong point with child and teen actors. From Atunu Beloved who took our breath away in The Accountant and The Planting, to Anjola Femi-Akintunde who made a statement with the one scene she had in House on Fire 4, to the Adeyi children who play Gboyega, Diwura and Makinde on Abejoye. With regards to that, we should get more films centred on children and teens.
There isn’t much to the daughter, which is my first challenge with Family Riot. Considering the fact that the movie is plying one way -no subplots, we are just focused on the rioting family and they are only four in the family- it’s expected that the writer would afford us as much closeness to the characters as possible, exploring and maximizing each one of them. While Akin, has a real story going for him, one that spans the entire length of the film, and we even watch the movie through his perspective via his diary entries at some points, his sister is almost non existent. Asides making a few appearances that don’t exactly make the story forge, she might well have been completely not in the movie. It would have worked better if the diary entries were left to her, seeing that she’s a girl and such are easily related with females.
And then we have Junior, the Reverend’s son who is supposed to have a large diastema due to the removal of his milk incisors but the teeth mysteriously appears and disappears when it so desires. Isn’t that wonderful?
Can we just have a Nigerian Christian film where a family sorts its issues without the intervention of a clergy, Aunt, Uncle or a related figure? Stalker has Uncle Emma, The Spell had an Aunty, The Counselor of course has the counselor cum pastor. It’s just hackneyed. I get it, there is the need for someone to come in with the message, but that’s where creativity comes in.
This a movie that lasts 1 hour tops, has less than 10 cast and is almost entirely shot in one location. Yet, it does not lag or drag. The build is progressive, the twist, cool and the resolution well, fair.
Now the catch is, the movie was shot on a phone, an IPhone 7 and except for the fact that parts of the pictures at a point glares a little with too much white, you would not know. The camera or should I say phone movements and angles are also sweet.
Family Riot brings home a story about a typical Nigerian home in a way that is as relatable as it is incredulous. It’s a good film, but it’s not just a film by anyone, it’s a Damilola Mike-Bamiloye film and that is reason enough for one to expect more than just ‘good’. With a movie like The Ignition (2015) coming from him, three years, three major feature length movies and a lot of short films down the line, Family Riot is not what one should expect. We love the ingenuity of his works and we crave more, call us Oliver Twist.
I think it’s here I would rest my keyboard, because who pen really epp🙄?
So, thanks for reading and watch this space for my review of The Counselor.
PS: Congratulations and shout out to Oris Daniel, on your award. Thanks for the mention too. God bless you bro
2018-06-10
👏🏾👏🏾nice review bro. It was like I was rewatching the movie. More ink to your pen.
Nice, well done, more grace
thank you MA