FAR

AGE PRODUCTIONS

Directed by Ikechukwu Onyeka

Produced by Agbor Gilbert Ebot

Rating – 2/10

Reviewed By – Vivian Nappier

 

“FAR” is a Nollywood/Callywood drama Directed by Ikechukwu Onyeka and Produced by Agbor Gilbert Ebot. “FAR” covers the story about a couple that kidnaps a baby while struggling with fertility issues but decides to get rid of the child after discovering that they are indeed capable of having a family of their own. The movie stars Nollywood Actress, Dakore Akande along side Nollywood USA Actress, Melissa Determined and Callywood Actor Jeffery Epule.

PLOT

The movie starts off with a police shoot out, capturing kidnappers and rescuing a baby. Flashback to six years earlier, we see Dr. Manga (Dakore Akande) informing Eno (Jeffery Epule) and Mpierrette (Melissa Determined) that there is no hope with them getting pregnant. Few days later, Mpierrette informs Eno that she is pregnant with a copy of the result in hand as proof, they celebrate. Few days later, they discover her bleeding at night and rushes her to the hospital. Dr. Manga informs them she’s fine and it happens sometimes, Eno argues for a test but the Doctor decides against it. Eno decides to fly Mpierrette abroad to stay with her aunty till she delivers.

While in Atlanta, Mpierrette confides in her aunty that it was all a lie and she actually is not pregnant. Back in Cameroon, Eno continues to have an affair with his younger maid who eventually gets pregnant. He takes the maid to Dr. Manga to handle the situation, implying abortion.

Upon return to Cameroon, a baby is handed over to Mpierrette at the airport by Dr. Manga’s assistant. She takes the baby home and everyone is happy. Few months later, Mpierrette takes ill and Eno takes her to the hospital. Dr. Manga confirms that she is pregnant. Upset about the whole situation, Eno threatens Dr. Manga to fix the problem. Dr Manga decides to have a private meeting with Mpierrette who states that they can just return the stolen baby but Dr. Manga decides against it as her license would be on the line.

Eno seeks advice from a friend who advises him to kill the baby now that he can actually father a child. Dr. Manga on the other hand, informs Mpierrette that she will have to take the baby from her, now that she is pregnant. Mpierrette states she will ruin her as she is a Judge. Another flashback shows that the husband knew all these while that he was incapable of having a child, as informed by Dr. Manga and he had actually planned the whole baby stealing with her but decided to keep it as a secret and instead, have Dr. Manga convince his wife like it was her own idea and make her keep it a secret from him in order for peace to rein.

In real time, the baby is kidnapped, the shoot out from the beginning occurs and everyone is arrested. Five years later, it shows that Eno got released from prison and back at his mother’s home.

The End

 

From reading the plot, it shows just how much is already wrong with the story. This movie was shot in 2014 so except there is a rule on no adoption in Cameroon, I can’t seem to fathom the idea about the kidnapping or killing of the child just because someone is now able to father a child. That makes ABSOLUTELY no sense to me in anyway whatsoever!

I don’t see anything wrong with having two kids in a home. If the story had used the plot of a crazy family that vowed on having only one child no matter what, I think that would have been more entertaining and easier for audience to wrap their head around.

If the flashback indicates six years earlier, then that will make the baby 5 years old but the baby being kidnapped was barely a year old…

The production quality looked ultra low budget and the lighting was bad. It was hard to make out the characters in most of the scenes due to lighting issues.

There was a story of a character named Denise (Jim Iyke) throwing a lady out of his car and driving off. We see the lady later drinking and nursing her pain in tears, as she has her own little flashback of her time with Denise and him advising her that everything on the internet is monitored so she should invest in something meaningful. That’s pretty much the end of that story. It had no structure, bears no relevance to the whole story and didn’t even need to be in the movie BUT considering it was the only scene with Jim Iyke, I understand it was needed for product placement.

The kidnapping and police shoot out didn’t exactly show how the kidnappers were traced but then again, this piece tends to be missing in most African movies.

It wasn’t established that the character of Mpierrette was a Judge, not till Dr. Manga randomly mentions it on one of their phone argument that she was and can’t blackmail her.

The acting was manageable, but the overall production was poor. At 1 hour and 45 minutes, the movie was way too long for such a short story.

What was the point of the husband hiding the plot from the wife if the doctor was going to tell the wife the exact same thing but to not tell the husband? So were they playing hide and seek but no real seeking or just playing who is smarter? I don’t get it. If he wanted peace to rein in the family, why didn’t they all just have a normal adoption discussion with the doctor instead of the whole tell my wife, don’t tell my husband but we both know who’s idea it is plot?

This was my first movie from Callywood, I have to say it’s nice to see Nollywood branching out and collaborating with other countries and their movie industries.

I don’t recommend this movie but if you don’t have anything doing and really don’t mind spending almost 2 hours on an African movie shot outside of Nigeria, then I do recommend this one.