Starring: John Dumelo, Ama K. Abebrese, Adjetey Anang

Synopsis:

A woman seeks to correct her fiancé’s wrongful conviction and succeeds at finding the real culprit but gets caught in a web of deceit.  

Review:

The story opens up to Effie (Ama K. Abebrese) on a mission to get her boyfriend out of jail. He was convicted of a bank robbery that he didn’t commit and Effie, through her own investigative devises, found Danny (John Dumelo), the actual culprit. Danny was a professional thief and she forced him to confess when she threatened him with a gun. 

Since Effie recorded the confession, Danny was then at her mercy. She convinced him to rob the bank again using the same methods as the previous one, and hoped the authorities would conclude that the real robber was still at large. Danny carried out the robbery with Effie as his accomplice but Effie’s boyfriend remained incarcerated. 

Meanwhile, Effie stashed tons of money from the robbery to start a new life with her boyfriend but an attraction was brewing with Danny. Her greed suddenly surfaced and she wanted one more heist at a jewelry warehouse. Danny agreed to it but during the crime something went very wrong. 

Let’s Talk. This is a thriller with a tease of romance. It’s not the common infidelity or village story and it was refreshing to see bank robberies. I know…crazy. The problem here is that I didn’t quite believe the story’s turn of events. 

First of all, the writers didn’t disclose how the authorities came to believe that Effie’s boyfriend (Adjetey Anang) was guilty of the crime. Also, the fact that Effie was able to obtain so much information about Danny was hard to accept. He was presented as a professional thief so one would think that he would have covered his tracks better. 

The strategy of committing another bank robbery so that the police would think the real criminal was still on the loose wasn’t a reliable theory. It’s understood that this was the thought process of the character but the police could have easily concluded that an accomplice did the second robbery or that it was another thief unconnected to Danny.

Furthermore, if Effie really wanted her boyfriend out of prison then all she had to do was call the police when Danny set out to commit the crime. That along with the confession would have been the real double cross.  

Here’s where the story really threw me for a loop – when Effie wanted to rob the jewelry store. I thought “whaaat?” At first she was on a mission to get her boyfriend out of jail and then she wanted to commit the very crime that he was falsely accused of? Seriously? Sometimes characters do change course but the issue here was that Effie went from one extreme to the next without transition. The idea of a jewelry theft came out of the blue and didn’t seem to fit the character.

There was a scene where Effie’s boyfriend even asked her “who are you?” It was a valid question as the Effie character was difficult to understand and relate to. To delve a little further, Effie claimed she needed pink diamonds for her wedding but after her boyfriend broke up with her, why was the jewelry theft still necessary? She would have been better off robbing another bank since she deemed the stolen cash insufficient. 

The story also had a few “dead zones” for a movie that was supposed to be intriguing. However, it did start off well with an opening scene that was successful in capturing viewer interest. One memorable scene was the one at the spa. This was where the attraction between Effie and Danny materialized and they created some spark. There was a jovial rapport between them that worked. 

Performances? John Dumelo played a laid back crook and stayed true to the character. Although Ama K. Abebrese is a talented actress she wasn’t quite the right fit for the role. Her character had Yvonne Nelson written all over it. No disrespect to Ama, it’s just that Yvonne has specific traits and a certain energy about her that would have served this type of role well. As for Adjetey Anang, he had limited screen time, but he was by far the best performance. 

Technically speaking, there were a few issues with video as a few frames froze while the movie played. Sound sufficed and the music choices were appropriate. 

The truth? “Double Cross” was oozing with potential but decelerated half way through due to unlikely occurrences. It wasn’t a burden to watch by any means but the prerequisite to a good movie is always a solid story. EJECT