'Devil in a Dress' is Action-Packed

The movie features Majid Michel, Uti Nwachukwu, Kalsoume Sinare, Roselyn Ngissah, Kafui Danku, Kay Elliott,Ben Brako, Mikki Osei Berko, Bismark Nii Odoi (Bismark the Joke) and other talented actors.

Review

Sheila (Rose Ngissah) is an elegant young lady, who swindles amorous men, sometimes killing her victims.

She begins to date three close friends: Greg (Majid Michel), Jade (Uti Nwachukwu) and Martin. She dribbles the three men, making it impossible for them to know that Sheila, Melissa and Linda is the same girl that the three young men adore.

The quarrel between the ladies in Greg’s house is quite funny. One wonders why people do not hold their cheating partners responsible for their (the cheating partner’s) actions rather than fighting the partners’ collaborators.

Screenwriter/director Pascal Amanfo seems to have a peculiar style of telling his stories - A narrator makes opening statements and reappears from time to time to update the audience on goings-on.

Most times, the narrator’s re-introduction reminds the viewers that he/she has been there from the beginning because too much time passes between the narrator’s disappearance and reemergence.

It is interesting to see how Casanovas can be tamed by the girl(s) they love.

The three young men believe that Sheila is the girl to take to the altar. Each of them absolutely respects her wishes just like many men do when they are smitten by Cupid. In fact, every lady should place a premium on herself to earn that kind of honour.

However, the reason Sheila conquers the young men; making them part with large sums of money; is not clear because apart from her looks, she does not sound brilliant enough to convince the average person that she is an astute businesswoman.

Much as men shower their women with gifts and money, businessmen are usually shrewd; so it reeks of contrivance in the development of the story that three businessmen will each fail to do their due diligence before doling out large sums for business transactions!

None of the guys even knows the lady’s residence. Indeed.

Sheila’s refusal to take pictures with any of the guys never results in an argument or some sort of conflict with at least one of them.

This is the era of smart phones, where people share and flaunt pictures on social media. Neither of the guys even plots to sleep with Sheila nor does any of them express dismay over her refusal to get intimate with them.

Even when guys accept to wait until marriage before having sex, they still put occasional pressure or get some sexual pleasure outside. But, the young men stop all liaisons all because of Sheila, their distant lover; not convincing.

In fact, the film remains at the same level of intensity from the moment the guys enter into a relationship with Sheila. From then on, it is happy-clappy all the way.

Their love is a rose-garden kind of love: very boring. A good story cannot be told without conflicts and Devil in a Dress fails to do much in terms of story and character development.

The Yoruba and a certain Ghanaian language that the ladies; who fight in Greg’s house; speak are not subtitled. Why?

There were glaring grammatical errors in Devil in a Dress. For example, Martin asks, ‘What could be wrong when I am sat in front of a goddess?’ rather than ‘What could be wrong when I am seated (or sitting) before a goddess?’

When the plane flies over the house, the reactions of Greg, Martin and Jade are infantile. Though they are reading Sheila’s notes at that point, is it only one aircraft that takes off from that airport at any point in time, considering the fact that the airport is an international one?

There are good moments in the film, but the screenplay is not taut at all.

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Written by Amarachukwu Iwuala.