Starring: Monalisa Chinda, Uche Jombo, Daniella Okeke, Alexx Ekebu

Synopsis:  

Three women of a certain age take a walk on the wild side and date young, hot studs. Is age just a number?

Review:

In a world where there’s a shortage of “good men” three women resorted to dating men that are significantly younger. These women are referred to as cougars and the question of the day is can these relationships work?

The first woman is Aret (Uche Jombo). She dated Chigo (Alexx Ekebu), a good-looking guy that was great in bed but had no means of supporting himself.  This left Aret wearing the pants in the relationship as she paid for everything and even gave him spending money.

The two traveled to Houston and lo and behold Chigo had a side girlfriend living there. Both women thought they were his “only one” until the three bumped heads at a party. It was an awkward situation, Chigo got busted, and words were exchanged. (Sidebar: Ladies, if you’re ever in a situation like this resist the urge to claim your man; let him claim you. This is a crucial moment where you will quickly learn where his heart lies.)

The discovery of the “other woman” led Aret to send Chigo packing and the American girlfriend demanded that he immediately return the five thousand dollars she loaned him. Chigo later wormed his way back into Aret’s life but when she found the American girl at his home in Nigeria it was the final straw in the relationship.

Next up are Elsie and Lawrence played by Monalisa Chinda and Benjamin Touitou. Elsie had a one-night stand with Lawrence and subsequently realized that he’s her son’s best friend. When her son learned of the affair it caused so much friction that Elsie broke up with Lawrence. 

Joke and Jite worked together and they’re the third couple. Jite (Ifeanyi Kalu) had been attracted to Joke (Daniella Okeke) for the longest but not only was she his boss; she was engaged to someone else. Joke’s fiancé seemed to be always missing in action when he stood her up for her birthday, Jite gladly filled in and took Joke dancing. The influence of alcohol led to a kiss. It was the highlight of Jite’s life but when he saw her kissing her fiancé on a later date it spoiled the budding relationship.

Let’s Talk. First off lets explore the term cougar and all of its connotations. Originally a cougar was defined as a woman in her forties or older that dates significantly younger men…for sex only. Nowadays, regardless of whether it’s a temporary fix or a long term relationship, a woman is still labeled a cougar if she’s above forty and dates a man that is more than ten years her junior. Supposedly, cougars now include women in their late thirties.

The reason “cougars” are a topic of discussion is because the age gap is responsible for conflicts in these relationships. With a gap of ten years or more, a couple is likely to be at different points in their lives and at unequal levels both financially and emotionally. For these reasons, a cougar normally settles for sex and doesn’t invest in a long-term relationship.

In terms of the movie, Aret and Chigo’s relationship was more of a sugar mama scenario. She may have been older but she seemed to be paying him to stay with her. If she were just about sex (cougar style) then she wouldn’t have jumped to claim Chigo at the party when the American girl was all over him or cried her heart out when he left.

Chigo having another girlfriend had nothing to do with his age; it had everything to do with being a male.  In terms of Aret being an older woman, it was immature for her to take back everything she bought for him. She even took back a pair of shoes while they were still on his feet. Funny! 

As for Elsie and Lawrence, they are the only couple that gave the title of the movie any credence. Lawrence was young enough to be Elsie’s son and she was with him for a night of sex and then went about her business. He reappeared in her life thanks to his friendship with her son and this is when Lawrence saw an opportunity to pursue her. Elsie let him in her life but ended the relationship because her son was embarrassed by it.

In relation to the term “cougar” there wasn’t enough of a focus on Lawrence’s inferiority in terms of experience, mentality, or finances, which should have been a primary complication in the relationship. If the relationship was delved into a little further these conflicts probably would have surfaced but this is where the script proved to be inadequate.

Here’s the real reason Elsie should have split with Lawrence: he’s a punk.  He actually ran away from a fight when Elsie’s son confronted him. Ran! Any real man would’ve fought for the woman he loved even if the fight was with his best friend because the minute a man decides to pursue his friend’s mother, he has also decided that the friendship is over. 

And, by the way, how is it possible that Elsie didn’t know her son’s best friend? I could see that she wouldn’t know all of his friends but if he’s living under the same roof with her it’s very likely that she would at least know his best friend.

Furthermore, the chemistry between Elsie and Lawrence didn’t work. Benjamin Touitou doesn’t have the mature aura needed to be Monalisa Chinda’s love interest. She’s way too much of a woman for him. The love scenes between them were awkward and clearly Lawrence didn’t know what to do with her. As I watched their love scenes I thought “OMG are they serious?” Desmond Elliott should have yelled, “CUT!” and recast the role of Lawrence immediately. Yes, the role called for a younger man but it also needed to be the right man.

When it was time for girl talk between the three leading ladies, Elsie claimed that Lawrence was the best in bed. I guess that was after she breast fed him and burped him. Puhleeze….

I must admit that the mother/son scenes between Elsie and Vincent (Shawn Faqua) were believable. The scene where they argued in the living room was good – the best scene in the movie. The American girl delivered the best line in the movie, which was “All men are the same. Nationality doesn’t change anything.”  You go, girl. I agree.

I wonder why the filmmakers didn’t cast Benjamin Touitou as Elsie’s son and have Shawn Faqua play Elsie’s lover. There is somewhat of a resemblance between Monalisa and Benjamin that could have pulled off a mother/son relationship and I thought Shawn had a level of charisma that paired better with Monalisa’s character. Oh well.

The issues between the third couple, Joke and Jite could be chalked up to an office romance. Age didn’t really play a factor in their relationship and the name of the movie is Lagos Cougars! Their connection was underdeveloped and as a matter of fact their storyline was unnecessary and didn’t enhance the movie any. The scene at the end where Joke was on stage and declared her love for Jite was such bullsh*t. When, how, and why did she fall in love with him? Here the writers were trying to conjure up emotion but it felt forced, fell flat, and was unmoving. Sigh…

Performances? Decent. As mentioned earlier, I thought the role of Lawrence was miscast. Shawn Faqua did a respectable job playing Elsie’s son however, Monalisa Chinda was the best performance of the lot. 

In terms of writing, the script was bland and formulaic and the direction left a lot to be desired. “Lagos Cougars” is what I call a cut and paste movie because we saw storylines from other movies that were pasted into this one. The problem with this route is that the movie still isn’t good. Visit our Movie Rating System to see how we really feel about originality.

Some women are actually offended by the term “cougar” and all this movie did was perpetuate the phrase without really dissecting it. With such a meaty subject it’s disappointing that this is all the writers came up with.  EJECT

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