Seven and a half dates directed by Biodun Stephens has an interesting premise. Will the screenplay live up to its expectation?
The storyline written by Joy Isi Bewaji follows a single young woman Bisola Gomez (Mercy Johnson Okojie) who is married to her career and has little to no time for anything else. Somewhere along the line, her father, Mr. Gomez (Akin Lewis) steps in to save her from eternal loneliness. She reluctantly yields to his plan to set her up on 10 dates with his friends’ sons who are still bachelors in order to find her a suitable husband.
This is one of the rare Nollywood movies where the subplot fits almost perfectly with the main plot. Mabel Gomez (Bayray McNwizu) is the younger sister who was dealing with an abusive fiancé and in some ways, it felt more like the main plot but all in all, it is a great blend.
Mrs. Gomez (Sola Sobowale) pulled off quite a remarkable performance. Embodying her character as the fraught mother, she uses her typically dramatic style to the max and where it could be an overpowering presence sometimes, it translates quite beautifully. Toyin Abraham did commendably well as Bisola’s funny assistant; some of her scenes elicit genuine laughs.
The storyline in itself is different in all the right ways and quite engaging. It is nice to see our staple romantic comedy take a unique turn.
Unfortunately, the lead roles were unable to pull off wowing performances. There was simply no spark. The romance felt unreal and the screenplay was generally lacking in the “romantic” aspect. Generally, some of the acting in this movie falls so flat, it lacks the necessary verve to keep viewers going.
Throughout the movie, the lead actress Mercy Johnson Okijie’s face was covered in a tonne of horrific make-up whereas light or at least bearable make-up even would have been so much more pleasing. It threw off the authenticity of her acting as the viewers would probably fixate on the makeup than the actress.
Poor lighting and shaky camera handling are some of the things the cinematography team should be brought to book for.
The editor should also be sanctioned as most of the questionable areas in this screenplay stem from editing. From scenes that seem to be abruptly cut short to scenes that dragged on too long, it is all little errors here and there that could have easily been avoided. It made for a discombobulated watch.
What is meant to be a romantic-drama does not really feel like one, it rather feels like a confused mix of a screenplay-commentary on domestic violence (which is not a bad thing if it was the focus of the movie) and a weak attempt at a romance.
While Seven and a half dates may not be one of the most outstanding Nollywood romance dramas out there, it is way above average and is guaranteed to entertain its viewers. Give it a try on Netflix today.
Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.
