CULTURE
MOVIE REVIEW: LUCKY
Lucky for starters is a deviation from the conventional Ghanaian movie in every regard. The much anticipated movie was produced by Lawrence Adjei and written/directed by Togbe Gavua, of Abstrakte Films and premiered on September 7th 2018 at the Silverbird Cinemas.
The film chronicles a day in the life of Lucky Barima Mensah, a university student and his best friend Wadaada. With not a cedi to his name, Lucky just landed the date of the century with the most popular girl on social media. The two friends face a series of mishaps and adventure as they attempt to raise some quick cash to make this dream date a reality.
First, we must commend the guys responsible for casting. Lucky perfectly blends new faces; Kumi Obuobisa, Kabuki Akiwumi and Efya Awindor, with veterans and household names; Fred Amugi, Akofa Edjeani, Solomon Fixon-Owoo and Psalm Ajetefio just to name a few. The movie thus successfully combines new school edginess with nostalgia, setting it apart from any Ghanaian movie we have previously seen.
Another major selling point of this movie is its relatability. Lucky remains true to its target viewership from the first scene up till the last. The accuracy with which the picture of University life was painted is rather outstanding! Lucky is also laced with your favorite urban music jams. Trust! Just the first few scenes will have you reminiscing your good old University days.
Key to this is the strength and believability of the characters. If you have already seen this movie, you will attest to knowing a Wadaada, a Mastercard or even a Lucky in your own life. And this is no coincidence as Dircetor/Writer – Togbe Gavua earlier revealed to us that most of the characters are actually caricatures of real people he knows in his own life (learn more).
Lucky is a gripping tragi-comedy that will leave you at the edge of your seat from start to finish. It is quite reminiscent of 1995 Hollywood blockbuster Friday starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker. And like the latter we look forward to Lucky spawning a number of sequels, or even spin-offs which will chronicle a day in a life of another one of the vibrant characters (our pick is Mastercard).
Although the story line per our own estimation is rather ordinary, the movie makers successfully prove you do not always require the most fascinating and twisted of plots to deliver a great movie. They relied on strong characters, top-notch performances, screenplay and cinematography to bring this baby home! Being Abstrakte’s first feature film Lucky is rather impressive. We look forward to seeing even better stuff from the Abstrakte crew in the near future.
Director: Togbe Gavua
Writers: Togbe Gavua (story), Joewackle Kusi (screenplay) Kumi Obuoabisa (story)
Starring: Kumi Obuoabisa, Solomon Fixon-Owoo Jnr., Buki Akiwumi, Jane Efya Awindor, Nenesenor Abloso
Duration: 1hr 30minutes
