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Tue, 11 May 2010 Feature Article

Movie Review: Kiss Me If You Can Written By Koby Rana

Movie Review: Kiss Me If You Can Written By Koby Rana

MOVIE REVIEW by Austin Brako Powers

STATE OF GHALLYWOOD
It is a general believe that for some time now the Ghanaian movie industry has suffered major setbacks which has encouraged a burning desire in our folks for other African brewed movies such as Nigerian movies to be specific. From the year 1999 right down to 2009, Ghanaian movies have been dealt a terrible blow with a mud rush for Nigerian movies which incessantly flood our market.

Could the inability of the Ghanaian movies to compete with other African movies especially attributable to the quality of movies produced, line of story, way of telling the story, the actors, lack of better advertisement, lack of funds etc?

Advertisement plays significant role in recording astronomical sales and patronage of one's movie. The foreign movies have been adept at exploring that to their advantage hence their monopoly of our industry. In spite of the vagaries in the patronage and production of a movie in Ghana, Ghallywood can “bluff” of recent creativity and innovation that seems to be saddling our industry.

REVIEW OF KISS ME IF YOU CAN

KISS ME IF YOU CAN; a movie written and directed by Kobi Rana (Cornelius Phantomas) did not enjoy quiet appreciable publicity as compared to other African movies and this has the potency of hampering the level of Ghanaian and outside patronage.

The movie which has Ray (Prince David Osei) the principal actor holds a promise for Ghallywood and it is quiet good a movie worth its salt. Unlike the recent 'nude' sensation that is fast closing in on our storytellers and writers of Ghanaian movies, Kobi Rana did not delve much on nudity thus 'moving sex' in the movie. The message of the movie overshadowed the scenes of nudity which could destruct audience and blight its potentials.

Ray a sensational Ghallywood actor though new in the movie industry has given the industry an added advantage through his extraordinary 'theatrical dramaturges', walking, articulation level, and his phenomenal way of dressing that seem to distant him from the other actors. His composure in the movie was generally calm but had a switch mood from hope to despair at the final analysis.

The movie KISS ME IF YOU CAN was written and directed by Kobi Rana (Cornelius Phantomas). The main actors were Prince David Osei as Ray, Martha Ankoma as Sharon, Kobi Rana as Kelly (Sharon's brother), Doris Sackitey as Katumba (Fetish Priestess), Eddie Nartey as Nii (Ray's friend), Norbile Narbor as Farida (Kelly's fiancé), Marian Addo as Afia (Sharon's friend), Ruweida Yakubu as Enyo (Sharon's friend), Famous Atitsogbe as Dela (doctor), Paul Sabbah as Seyram (Sharons fiancée), Marcus MaCarthy as Alhaji (Farida's father) and Shaddrack Bediako as a hairdresser. The movie was made in 2010 and can outdo some 'concert movies' flooding Ghallywood. The movie KISS ME IF YOU CAN is about a protagonist Ray who caught his fiancée having sex with another man two weeks to their wedding (how disgusting he feels). He, as a waver took to chain smoking of cigarettes even in the face of opposition from Nii his friend. He walked into Sharon (who was also coming from a relationship heartbreak from Seyram her fiancée) and had a crush on her but is Sharon going to give him a chance as against her 'bitter' experiences?

In the movie, Sharon entered into a relationship with Seyram after one relationship heartbreak throwing tantrums at Kelly (her brother) that Seyram (her new fiancée as compared to Derrick, the one who broke her heart) was, “more reliable, noble, sweeter…”. In her endeavor to convince Kelly her brother of her new choice she says, “Since I have gathered enough evidence to prove that he (Seyram) is loving enough to occupy the vacancy in my life”. Somewhere too Ray according to Nii his friend, is “wasting your life and smoking your lungs out”, by brooding on her fiancé (Tara) whom she caught having sex with another man two weeks to their wedding. Ray with Nii at a pub playing Pool spotted Sharon who was also at the pub with her girlfriends (Enyo and Afia) taking drink - walked up to her (Sharon) when she was leaving the pub premise. He was greeted with a hostile attitude and even had his complementary card rejected by Sharon.

Another day, Ray in his vehicle saw Sharon waving a taxi to a halt pulled his car and decided to pay off the taxi driver and offer Sharon the comfort of his “little limo”, as he puts it. After continuous hostile attitudes perpetuated by Sharon towards him, he decided to confide in his friend Nii who intimated that, Ray “needs some help”. Ray went for some help from Katumba (Doris Sackitey) to help him in his adventure to woo Sharon. Katumba cautioned Ray to “remember, remember, you must not avoid the target, you must not reject the target, do not leave the target”. In the event Ray strays from the caution, he will lose his mind for six days and die on the seventh day. Ray applied the medicine given to him by Katumba into a food and started to Sharon's house to present the gifts. He did not meet Sharon but rather Kelly her brother who says his sister had gone out with friends. His patience to wait for Sharon and deliver the “weapon of mass destruction”, encouraged him to wait in Sharon's house even beyond 11: 59 pm.

Ray left a “tactical and encoded” message for every item to be given to Sharon. Hunger coerced Kelly to enjoy the rice with the 'medicine' after trying effortlessly to contact her sister on a phone to tell her about his ambition to eat the food. Kelly left his fiancé Farida (Norbile Nartey) crying due to his inability to pick her calls. With Kelly under the spell meant for Sharon, Ray had to find a way of 'disorienting' the medicine and ensure that Kelly is cleared from his “wrong target ship”. Kelly is now “in love” with Ray. Katumba is the only person who can “work some magic wand”. The later unfolding of events in the movie is phenomenal.

Rays part in the movie KISS ME IF YOU CAN is that of a revelation of a “sub culture” which is fast closing in on the Ghanaian youth. After he caught his fiancé in mid-sex with another man two clear weeks to their wedding, he was poised to fill the “void” in him – get into another relationship. Again, Nii's role and the advice he dispensed to Ray is an indication of how our peers or more clearly friends wield much influence in our daily living. Against Ray's caution that “he is a Christian” Nii took him to Katumba (Doris Sackitey) for the help.

However, the movie as against the sometimes “nudity” dominated Ghanaian movies and “concert movies” has a nice story line worth the attention of any well-meaning Ghanaian who felt fed up with the “crap” that found their feet at their door steps. Anyone quiet familiar with Ghanaian movies will be apt to point to you some moral lessons our movies teach which until now was lost to us. KISS ME IF YOU CAN has in it a moral lesson which is good for our youth's consumption. Examples include;

1. That one should not seek any spiritual help whatsoever for the sole purpose of wooing a lady.

2. That friend's influence in our life is greater and one ought to be careful and hold onto principles in dealing with such people.

I recommend the movie to everyone from 18 years and above. The adults will find this movie mouth watering and suspending. The use of long shot, zoom, close-up; panorama; middle-distance; slow motion; sharp focus; tracking; fade; dissolve; fixed camera should attract future reviewers of any movie worth its salt. Though most of dialogues involve is a semblance of what takes place in our dramas, there is no doubt that the movie is a good start for the comeback of Ghallywood movies. The setting of the movie gives it the touch of a modern Ghanaian society which is fast approaching its apex in modernization and “elite hood”.

The next time you choose a movie be careful of the content (the total message of the movie), the targeted audience, the language, their costume etc. Ghallywood can be propel to re - dominate the defunct Ghanaian movie industry if our Script writers, directors, producers fetched the Ghanaian market with quality and not quantity.

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