‘Love in Every Word 2’ dazzles but overstays its welcome
Cast: Uzor Arukwe, Bambam Olawunmi Adenibuyan, Osereme Inegbenebor, Thelma Chukwunwem, Chris Attoh, Patience Ozokwor, Omotunde Adebowale-David.
Director: Omoni Oboli
Genre: Romance
This movie continues the love story of Odogwu Obiora, played by actor Uzor Arukwe, and his Achalugo, Chioml, played by Bambam Olawunmi Adenibuyan.
In the first instalment, we see Obiora and Chioma fall in love and get engaged. Before they finally say “I do”, they must overcome several twists and turns.
The movie opens with Chioma having a bad dream. In the dream, her fiancé’s Umunna (male family members) reject her because she was born out of wedlock. This dream traumatises as it should, but she moves past it.
The story moves on to launching her perfume store, where she gives a speech thanking her family and Odogwu Obiora for their love and support. This speech goes viral, and she is soon flooded with orders—her business flourishes, as does her relationship.
After a bit of a delay, she consents to her Odogwu to commence the wedding plans, which he does by sending his family to collect the bride’s price list, as is done in Igbo culture.
We now see all the wedding planning shenanigans, including the attempted takeover of the wedding by the mother of the bride-to-be, hilariously played by Thelma Chukwunwem, and the bride’s friend and lawyer, beautifully played by Oseremen Inegbenebor. They make a lot of outlandish demands, but we all know Odogwu is capable.
Along the way, a past lover waltzes back into the bride-to-be’s life, and a roadblock arises in the form of Odogwu’s mother, who demands an end to the relationship.
It’s now up to the couple to navigate these circumstances and whether their love will conquer all.
Review
First of all, this is a three (3) hour movie. It dragged along so much and had too many unnecessary scenes.
For example, the perfume shop scenes and even business talk were excessive. Love In Every Word 2 was promoted as a wedding movie, and more time should have been spent on the main plot, which is the wedding preparations and dynamics around it.
The original film was full of delusional moments, such as Odogwu buying the office building to get Achalugo’s phone number, and this sequel provides more of them.
We see Odogwu Obiora gift Chioma’s mom a house he built from scratch. In nearly every scene, Oma is constantly spoiled with expensive designer items. He even manages to fly to Lagos from Anambra to see her continually. His character is a billionaire, so maybe he’s not delusional!
The dialogue between the two main characters was stilted. In the first few scenes, it felt like they were nervous, and their chemistry was lacking. As time passed, they seemed to relax and start showing better, and Uzor, in his usual jocular way, got a few laughs from me.
Uzor as Odogwu Obiora gave a somnolent performance. As for Bambam’s soft-spoken drawl, which was most admired in the original, it became a setback in the sequel.
She sounded slow, sure of herself, and a. For a Character with no record of living or even schooling abroad, I found it absurd that she had as much of a foreign accent as her proposed business investors from Dubai. Even when she needed to speak professionally, she kept talking like she was in the bedroom with her man. It was pretty distracting.
Then, Odogwu’s reaction when he found out about Hassan felt rushed. That angle could have been explored more to give Chris Attoh room to shine as the phenomenal actor he is. He was grossly underutilised.
Plot holes
There were also plot holes, the most noticeable being Obiora meeting with Chioma’s father and bringing him to her store.
On the bright side, Chioma’s mother ate up her role and provided some light-heartedness, as did Adaku, played by Omotunde Adebowale-David.
The star-studded cast included the legendary Patience Ozokwor, who played Odogwu Obiora’s mother. She executed her role perfectly as the Matriarch of a family who wanted to protect her son and the family legacy from disrepute. I wish she had been introduced into the movie earlier and that Adaku had been given more screen time. They provided some much-needed excitement, and their scene together was enjoyable.
Another bright spot in the movie was Chioma’s friend, Ify. I would name her the breakout star of this sequel. She was the right amount of excited and dramatic. I laughed when she wore black to mourn the relationship being called off. She was great in every scene she appeared in.
Everyone loves a good cameo, and Omoni Oboli served us plenty with appearances by Cubana Chief Priest, Zoro, Boy Spyce, Tukand, e Morgan, and others.
Verdict
There was a disconnect between the original and the sequel. In the original, Odogwu had a more clean-cut look and better grooming. In this sequel, I couldn’t help but notice how bushy his hair and beard were and how he folded his red cap and wore it at a jaunty angle. He looked unkempt and unlike a so-called billionaire, and there was a bit of a mix-up with his outfits during the wedding scene.
On the bright side, the cinematography was superb. The wardrobe gave us lovely outfits, like the pink dress Chioma wore to reject Hassan’s car gift. The sound and lighting were also very well done.
I must especially commend the director for the wedding scene. The variety of food, performances, outfits, and song choices was put together wonderfully. That was the highlight of the movie for me.
It is too lengthy and takes some time to become good, but it has some laugh-out-loud moments. It doesn’t live up to or surpass the original, but it is enjoyable to watch overall.
7/10
Showing on Omoni Oboli TV.