By Ada Ude.
Starring: Funke Akindele, Benjamin Joseph, Joke Sylvia, Femi Brainard, Tina Mba and Kiki Omeili
Produced by: Kalejaiye Paul
Directed by: Tunde Olaoye
Taking my seat amid other eager viewers not-so-quietly awaiting the much-talked-about movie, Married but Living Single, I set myself up to be captivated. My twenty “whooping” thousand bucks platinum ticket didn’t make any difference, by the way.
Set in present day Nigeria, Kate (Funke Akindele), an ambitious young woman, is desperate to climb the corporate ladder so fast and attain career fulfillment, even to the detriment of her family. Kate is hell-bent on achieving and affording the finer things of life as she expends a lot of time and energy on her job. Her commitment to her career makes her lose a grip on her husband, her child, and her home.
Of course this only gives room for yet another ambitious young woman, Titi (Kiki Omeili), whose own ambition is fueled by her deep passion to land a good man for herself. Who best to ensnare but the dashing and dutiful Mike (Joseph Benjamin)—Kate’s neglected and love-starved husband whose wife could not make out some time from her busy schedule at work to be with him through surgery in India. Well, Titi makes herself available and, naturally, Mike is enamored with her. Before long both are locked in a steamy hot affair.
There is also Lola (Tina Mba), a family friend of Kate’s who tries her best to keep her home against her better judgment even when faced with frequent emotional and physical abuse visited upon her by her short tempered husband Patrick (Tunde Olaoye). Her refusal to wake up and smell the coffee was her undoing. With no consideration for their daughter who had to live the through mental and emotional abuse, which will most certainly live permanent scars in her life, Lola stuck to her guns and remained in a bad marriage until one morning she just didn’t wake up!
The satiric plot of this movie touches on all aspects the family—relationship, trust, neglect, and emotional and physical abuse, as are evident in our daily living. The plot was excellent and they had a good story which every young upwardly mobile couple in present day Nigeria should be conscious us about. The foremost ambition of any couple should be how to strike a balance between work and family and the trick is to know where to draw the line. This is what this movie tries to portray.
It really draws our attention to what is really important in life and as Mike rightly poses in the movie: “Is there dignity in labor or dignity in mankind?”
I, personally, think that more attention should have been given to the many tiny little details in the movie, for a better execution of a wonderful story. I also thought that Akindele and Joseph just didn’t have any sparks as I didn’t quite get that “oomph” that would have made your heart sing just watching them.
That said, y’all should see the movie and learn. The bottom line is we all need to find that balance.
Here’s the movie trailer below:
