Starring:  Antonio J. Bell, Chinaza Uche, Tina Mba, Bimbo Manuel

Synopsis:  An American teenager sent to Nigeria against his will teams up with a con artist who promised him a plane ticket back home.  

Review:

Eze (Antonio J. Bell) found himself in Nigeria against his will when his mother sent him there to become familiar with his roots. He got into a bit of trouble while back in America and while he thought he was just visiting for four weeks, he learned his return ticket was canceled and he was due to stay for a year.

Feeling duped, Eze contacted his father for help but that didn’t pan out so he offered to be of assistance to his con artist cousin, Pius (Chinaza Uche). Pius had a partner in crime, Baba (Toyin Oshinaike), and they were recently arrested which kept Pius indebted to a corrupt police officer who continuously kept him out of jail. When Baba backed out of the business completely, Eze’s desire for a place ticket came in handy for Pius’s next scheme. 

Let’s Talk. Well, well, well, a movie about internet scamming and a teenager trying to get back to America. Not exactly your typical story line and that’s a big plus. 

Eze arrived in Nigeria and immediately disliked the food, electricity problems, and the fact that he had to share a bed with his aunt in a one-bedroom apartment with no shower. His desire to return to American liberties prompted him to join forces with Pius, who gambled with his life as he resorted to numerous scams to keep money rolling in. This was his livelihood but would he scam his own flesh and blood? That became the crux of the story. 

This movie had an inviting premise embellished with street savvy. It felt authentic as it featured two contrasting characters that meshed well. While Eze arrived in Nigeria like a fish out of water, it was home to Pius who had mastered the game of survival. Each had a motive for the other but only one came out on top.

The story exposed the types of scams that exist and how easy it is to get duped. Internet scams have been in existence for decades and they prey on greed or someone with a gracious heart. But scammers come from all over the world, not just Nigeria, and they rake in tons of money. The movie didn’t advise on how to protect yourself from such practices, and it should be common sense, but oddly enough, people get ripped off all the time.

The term “Nigerian Prince” refers to the earlier scams where someone typically posed as someone of royalty/wealth and sent a letter to an unsuspecting recipient attempting to obtain their bank account number. The person of “royalty” pretends that they need a bank to deposit their fortune into for “safekeeping.” The recipient is enticed by the possibility of receiving a share of the money but when they release their account information, their account is later drained of its funds. The perpetrator may also request an advance fee from victims.  

Wouldn’t it have been story appropriate if Eze created his own email scheme for money? At least his circumstances were true! He was an American stuck in Nigeria that needed a one-way ticket home!

One drawback was that the filmmakers presented a negative and one-sided view of Nigeria. According to the story, there were only two boats to be in. Either you were poor and working a low-end job or you were scamming your way through life. It seemed that no one could be trusted, not even the police, and that’s not a good look for Nigeria. Successful people with jobs and homes were MIA, but hey, it’s fiction and that’s where Eze’s story took place. 

The question becomes was this the Nigerian heritage Eze’s mother sent him to Nigeria to see? She actually sent her son to live with a mother who raised a thief! And it made sense that Pius would be a crook because stern parents can sometimes churn out rebellious children. We don’t know if Eze’s mother was oblivious to their life of crime but we can only hope she was.

Faraday Okoro directed the movie and he was a qualified recipient of funding from AT&T and New York’s Tribeca Film Institute’s “Untold Stories” program. Based on this production, he deserved the award. RECOMMEND