Title: PAINTED LIES  (1 & 2)

Sequel: UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH (1 & 2) 

Starring: Frank Artus, Chinwe Isaac, Angela Okorie, Tissy Nnachi, Charles Billion

Synopsis:

A married man with three daughters goes out of his way to finally have a son by impregnating another woman. 

Review:

Frank Artus plays Bobby, a guy who is hell bent on having a son. Although he was married with three daughters he spent a ton of money courting Maya (Chinwe Isaac).

He led Maya into believing that she was the only woman in his life and she didn’t find out he was married until after she was pregnant. She almost left him but he convinced her that he would marry her. The wedding plans went astray when test results indicated Maya was having a girl.

Pregnant and jobless, Maya hustled the streets and stole to make ends meet. Her landlord took advantage of her when she couldn’t pay the rent and eventually kicked her out when she no longer wanted to play his game.

Making matters worse was the birth of her child. There was an error in the previous test results and Maya actually gave birth to a boy. Financial pressures caused her to leave the baby in front of a random house hoping the owners would take care of him.

Things began to look up when she ran into Benson (Charles Billion), her doctor. He took her in and admitted that he was attracted to her from day one. When they tried to retrieve Maya’s son he was long gone and so were the owners of the house.

Long story short, it was Bobby who ultimately wound up broke and on the streets. When he learned that Maya had a son that was nowhere to be found, it caused him the very pain and anguish he caused Maya.

Let’s Talk. First off, the movies are mislabeled. “Painted Lies” is actually the original movie and “Uncomfortable Truth” is the sequel. Be sure to watch “Painted Lies” first if you have not yet watched this series. 

In terms of story, it was pretty silly for Bobby to take one look at the size of Maya’s waist and predict that she could give birth to a male child but then again I guess that was the thought process of the character.

Another irritant were the scenes that dragged on for dear life. The audience had to watch Maya sweep a floor for two minutes. There’s a scene where we had to watch Bobby fix a tire and then listen to the radio for five minutes. What was the point of these extended scenes without dialogue? If it didn’t move the story along then what was the point? Some serious editing could have made this a two-part movie instead of four.

The story also left some questions. The character of Ella, played by Angela Okorie, was supposedly murdered.  Was she really dead? Did her boyfriend just get away with it?  How come Maya didn’t receive news about Ella’s death? After all, Ella was her relative. Also, what really happened to Maya’s baby? These questions remained unanswered. 

As far as acting, Chinwe Isaac and Frank Artus played the main characters and they were believable in their roles.

Despite errors and holes in the story, “Painted Lies/Uncomfortable Truth” was a decent drama. RECOMMEND 

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