Title: THE KIDNAP (1 & 2)

Starring: Joseph Benjamin, O.C. Ukeje, Omoni Oboli, Mbong Amata, Desmond Elliott 

Synopsis:  

After a group of friends lose their jobs at a crucial point in their lives, desperation sets in and they devise a kidnapping that proves to be an interesting one.

Review:

Donald and Benjamin are among a group of friends that were down on their luck. They lost their jobs at a bank due to downsizing and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Donald (Joseph Benjamin) was behind on his rent and Benjamin (O.C.Ukeje) wanted to help pay for his girlfriend’s surgery. Their personal conflicts led to bitterness. The conclusion was to kidnap the bank director’s daughter and demand a ransom.

They set their plan in motion and Cassie (Mbong Amata) was held captive. It wasn’t an easy task because her brother was shot in the process. After a botched exchange, a shoot-out, and a few casualties, it was mission accomplished. Cassie was released to her family and Donald and his crew got the money they demanded. 

Months later Donald and Cassie (the kidnap victim), happened to be partying at the same club. She was in party attire, she looked pretty, and Donald found himself attracted to her. She didn’t recognize him as her kidnapper because faces were masked when she was held hostage. Long story short, Cassie and Donald became an item. The question of the day became how long would they last before Cassie discovered the truth about his involvement in her abduction. 

Let’s Talk. This is a kidnap story turned romantic drama. What’s hard to swallow is that Donald would actually pursue Cassie after he kidnapped her. Why play it that close? Why risk all of that money after all he went through to get it? And what about his friends? Why would he risk everything when it’s Cassie’s father that he held responsible for his job loss in the first place?

This part of the story may have worked if Cassie pursued Donald. Here’s why: 1) Cassie wouldn’t have known what she was getting into whereas Donald did. It would have made more sense for Donald to resist her than the other way around since Donald’s freedom and money was on the line. Also, watching Cassie continuously reject a fine piece of chocolate like Joseph Benjamin just didn’t ring true.

2) This suggested scenario would have also made a more interesting character for Mbong Amata to play. Cassie as the aggressor would have given the character a motive. Cassie had no motive. She just floated around in the story and got swept off her feet. This minor change would have made a major difference.  

As for further comments, there was an enormous amount of time focused on Cassie’s family. This changed the momentum from kidnap thriller to family drama. Who was the audience supposed to root for? The wealthy family or the underdogs?

The movie shares similarities to the Hollywood movie titled “Set It Off.” The Hollywood story focused on four bank robbers played by Jada Pinkett Smith, Vivica Fox, Queen Latifah, and Kimberly Elise. Although the women in this story were clearly in the wrong the audience still wanted them to get away scot-free with their crimes. “Set it Off” didn’t focus on the victims and it manipulated the audience into caring about the criminals. Think about that.

Somehow “The Kidnap” lost its way. The movie was presented as though it wasn’t sure what genre it wanted to be.  All of the family dynamics and their unnecessary dialogue caused the movie to lose momentum.

As for the story, the way Cassie learned the truth was lame. How many times do we have to use the drunken excuse? C’mon. Why couldn’t Cassie figure out the truth herself? Can a woman not be pretty AND smart? Why couldn’t she follow her intuition? That would have been the way to go.

Performances? Now we’re talking. The acting was the highlight of the movie. O.C. Ukeje has a talent for mastering characters and he played his role pretty well. Joseph Benjamin dropped it like it’s hot. He’s so good at being bad! Omoni Oboli certainly delivered as the callous female kidnapper. This was a great role for her.

Technical stuff? The sound was not the greatest. There was quite a bit of outside interference – heavy wind and various annoyances that robbed the movie of clear dialogue. In some scenes the dialogue was hollow and turning up the volume didn’t help.

The closing credits did not list actors Okey Uzoeshi and Ginnefine Kanu. The credits also did not include the names of the characters that each actor played.

Ultimately, “The Kidnap” wasn’t the worst movie in the world but it also wasn’t the best. Some of the better moments were the action scenes. The movie also reflected today’s times regarding the sluggish economy and the lack of job stability. At the end of the day, the story execution was haphazard and none of the characters came out on top. EJECT

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