[blockquote align=”centre” author=”EfikoScore: 4/10″ style=”font-size: 30px”] Uche Jombo’s sports drama is a sometimes-funny project defeated by its own lack of originality. [/blockquote]
Secondary school student Nedu (Kayode Ojuolape) only lives to play football. On the pitch, his mates name him Onye Egwu, the nickname of a famous player whose real name is Alex (Zubby Michael). At home, his struggling, protective mother (Uche Jombo) is the opposition to his football dreams.
Alex, however, is dealing with a string of injuries. He must find another path. But first, he must address his baby-mama, Tina (Natacha Akide), the person allegedly behind his misfortunes.
The first thing to note about this film is that its characters are definitely Nigerians. Their unquestioned acceptance of supernatural factors underlying physical events has no note of falseness. So, when Alex’s sister suggests that his ex has locked his spirit in a bottle, Alex simply begins to seek a way to break the spell.
But even with this frank depiction of the common people’s acceptance of the supernatural, the film follows New Nollywood’s cynical portrayal of religious officers as charlatans.
Whether it’s Pentecostal pastors, prophetesses, or gypsy mediums, New Nollywood tells viewers their messages are untrue and geared towards a fleecing of the faithful. One wonders if this is a representation of truth or if it is a trope tacked on for easy laughs. Perhaps, here lies Onye Egwu’s ultimate flaw. While it certainly is an enjoyable fare, it says nothing new, has few original jokes, and cannot be bothered with truth or its approximations—even within the world it has created. It’s also lazy.
A character named Madam Eno (Ini Edo) seeks the professional advancement of her son over Nedu, and decides to lace her son’s rival drink. But rather than do so at a decisive moment, she strikes at a moment of insignificance. This is weak plotting. What the story obviously seeks is to establish Madam Eno’s villainy but at a safe enough distance from the expected outcome. Onye Egwu is littered with characters and plot points like this.
But Ini Edo does contribute towards saving the film. As Eno, she represents the heavily accented ladies of the Akwa Ibom-Cross River region, playing a ghetto snob convinced of her superiority. She gives ambition and maleficence a casual touch, keeping even dastardly acts on the light side of mischief. One of the film’s genuinely funny (and original) scenes is carried by her.
Her Old Nollywood colleague Jombo, who’s also the director of this film, gives a credible performance as a Nigerian mother. So much of what she does will be so familiar to the Nigerian that one must smile. Her eyes are watchful of her offspring, helpless to mischief and ambitions, but ever ready to steer them right. In taking on the mannerisms of the average Nigerian mum, she is irreproachable.
Together, these performances make the film watchable. But as a sports drama, Onye Egwu offers no new insights on the world of football. With a surer hand and a little less reliance on cliché, it might have come close to being satisfactory.
