"Okafor's Law" falls short of hype

The fourth Omoni Oboli Production, the movie doesn't hold up in comparison to Oboli's past works.

Just like every of Oboli's movies, "Okafor's Law" had a lot of hype surrounding it, aided by the copyright infringement accusation levelled against the filmmaker by Jude Idada.

The movie finally made its debut in cinemas on March 31, 2017, after a judge lifted an injunction that had halted the scheduled premiere on Friday, March 24, 2017.

"Okafor's Law," tells the story of Chucks, an ardent player who is tasked with seducing three women from his past to prove the existence of Okafor's Law to his friends, Baptist and Fox.

"Okafor's Law" is not a bad movie, it is simply not an outstanding one. There's nothing essentially cinematic about the movie, which could just as easily work as a straight to DVD production.

The movie doesn't come with those cringe-worthy performances that accompany most Nigerian movies. However, "Okafor's Law" comes with flat dialogues that are presumably meant to be witty.

Despite emanating from the mouths of some talented performers, there is still something off about the dialogue which comes off as stilted.

Though it's not a masterpiece, "Okafor's Law" benefits from the performances of some of its cast, especially, Ufuoma McDermott's performance as Ify Omene, and few fine comedic moments offered by Tina Mba as Chucks' mother and Blossom Chukwujekwu as Chuks, and Ufuoma McDermott as Ify Omene.

The plot surrounding her character and that of her husband (Richard Mofe Damijo) is beautiful enough to be fleshed out into a full movie titled "Okafor's Law." The Omenes represent couples who find forgiveness and perfection amid their imperfection.

Gabriel Afolayan tries to win hearts with his familiar laid-back lines. Unfortunately, that doesn't work this time around.

Toyin Aimakhu as Tomi struggles to convince as an Advertising Guru who has sworn off men because of her past relationships. She constantly delivers her lines in a seductive tone that makes it difficult to believe she isn't sexually interested in Chuks.

The movie is fairly funny until it decides to become a stereotypical romance film by insisting that Chucks falls out of love with one of the ladies and ends up with another, all in just a few weeks.

The movie drags longer than it should. "Okafor's Law" should have rolled the credits after Ejiro (Omoni Oboli) takes care of an injured Chukwujekwu. Unfortunately, Oboli decides to play it safe and give certain characters an unnecessary happy ending.

The sound quality of the movie is as bad as they come. It's loud and less balanced at different points, making it difficult to concentrate.

At the end of the day, "Okafor's Law" is a typical Nigerian comedy movie, which is okay and worth your time, but definitely not worth the hype.