‘Charge and Bail’ Premieres, Now in Cinemas
Ferdinand Ekechukwu
It’s the premiere of the movie ‘Charge and Bail’. Its theme dress code “Guilty as Charged” had set the tone for the night at the EbonyLife Place in Victoria Island. The guests, including the cast and crew had pulled up at the red carpet with a handful of them missing out on the memo, but what does it matter after all. As it seems, they already fixated, in anticipation of the screening of the Inkblot’s latest production which has taken weeks of online buzz after the release of its teaser.
Opening with scene which introduced some of its cast at a reception party, the 95minutes Nollywood fusion of drama and comedy, starring actress, Zainab Balogun and Stan Nze in the lead, is a light-hearted, yet realistic movie about finding yourself in places you feel you don’t belong to or beneath you and yet it grows on you and becomes the place you don’t want to be without. Nze played the role of Dotun, an egocentric character who thinks he is one of the best things that happened to the legal space.
While Balogun, with her legal background, was able to bring her skills and experience to bear on her character, Boma. Currently showing at the cinemas, Charge and Bail makes for a decent watch. The dramedy tells the story of Boma Ossai, the daughter of a top lawyer. Expectedly, her father had assumed that she would be posted to his firm for her NYSC programme after schooling abroad and had in fact reserved a position for her there. Unfortunately, she was posted to another law firm owned by Wole, her father’s estranged friend.
Wole has been on cold terms with Boma’s dad over a long relationship issue involving a love triangle between Mr. Ossai (played by Bimbo Manuel), Mrs. Ossai, and Wole (played by Femi Adebayo). On getting to the firm, she wanted them to reject her. Unfortunately for her again, Wole’s chamber refused, insisting she works with them as they needed all the hands possible to keep the firm running. For someone like Boma, who was from the high class, it was difficult adjusting to becoming a ‘Charge and Bail’ lawyer in a less standard firm. Eventually, Boma finds herself doing the job and even falling in love with it.
“Charge and Bail” is written by Chinaza Onuzo and directed by Uyoyou Adia. Its crisp sharp scenes reflect its cinematographic quality output. Shot in real courthouses in Igbosere and some actual prison cells, the movie also shows the struggles and extent to which people go to get justice for their loved ones as well as how lawyers compete among themselves to get clients. One spectacular thing was how different messages and subplots of the movie were introduced and led into the main plot without feeling detached from the story.
Give it to the actors who did a good job. From Femi Adebayo, to Bimbo Manuel, Folu Storms, Pere Egbi, Tope Olowoniyan, Eso Dike amongst many others were a delight to watch. One of the best scenes was a silhouette visual at the prison where Boma and Dotun had a conversation. There was also a scene where four of the characters were speaking almost at once but each knew to say their lines for the audience to hear them simultaneously without being confused about who was saying what.
Dotun was portrayed as the ‘slay king’ especially with the long black coat he wore in a scene where they went to visit a client. However, ‘Charge and Bail’ makes missteps with a bit of its scenes which seem unresolved and incomplete. Like the scene of Aisha’s (Folu Storms) party. It was not properly portrayed for the audience to fully grab the essence. Bimbo Manuel played the commendable role of a Nigerian father and good lawyer. Not forgetting the comic relief provided by Crazeclown and Chigul’s characters which keeps the audience mixed reaction.
