Behind a smile

Movie Title : Behind A Smile
Starring : Majid Michael, Jim Iyke, Nadia Buari, Omoni Onoboli
Directed by : Frank Rajah Arase
NFVCB rating : 18
Genre(s) : Romance, Drama


Lets step in to the Time portal and travel through time and space back to the Elizabethan era. An epoch referred to as the golden age in English history where the ‘peak of Literature’ was attained through outstanding literary works produced by literary pundits /eagles (William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe) and a host of others. Enjoy the days of nobles, knights, witty politicians and observe the oppression of the peasants. Take a quick peek in to the fashion world in London and admire the women’s dresses beautifully ornamented with brocades, velvet, gold and silver embroidery, with fitted bodice and lovely snoods on their heads. Observe the men wearing jerkins laden with silky/velvety trimmings. Of course, you’re a bit confused with the Elizabethan language being spoken. Visit the English Renaissance Theatre prior to its closure in 1642 and be mesmerized by the richly inspiring theatrical performances. Step in to the time portal once more and make your way back to the present.

Mentally delete the Elizabethan setting and substitute with the modern one, theatrical performances for the scenes performed by actors before hi-tech cameras handled by the film crew and viewed by a massive population. Then juxtapose the English language with elements of poetically inspired Shakespearian lines in the conversation between two on screen actors and what do you have ? You’ve got Majid Michael and Nadia Buari reeling out such lines like… “life is not so kind at all, sitting down and watching time slip by making numb the decisions of our heart is nothing, nothing but cowardice”… “ your words mystify my senses and I cannot make meaning of them”.

I guess that caught my attention in the first place, even Majid (Jim Iyke) in one of the scenes was amazed at the level of poetic, Shakespearian attitude Fred had suddenly adopted.

Fred Adams ( Majid Michael) works as the Brand Manager in Pinnacle Industries. He’s in a romantic relationship with Stacey (Omoni Oboli) who incidentally is the daughter of the wealthy heavy hitter, Chief Damaji (Jibola Dabo). Stacey adores him and swims happily in the sea of love, oblivious of the changing romantic tide that is set to draw her into the murky waters of emotional trauma and heart break. Fred re-unites with his best friend Majid (Jim Iyke) who spent six months without a job in Spain and involuntarily returned to the country consequent upon an expired visa. “I’m a hustler baby, I make it big or I die trying” he says to Fred. Majid is a head strong , cold hearted brute who often times wears an inscrutable look. He sets Fred up as he leaves the bank with money ( N5 million Company funds and N200,000 personal funds) in his brief case. The pursuit begins as Fred escapes into a house with the main gate somewhat left open. Marah , the victim of a Kidney failure, who’s home alone ( based on the car crash that claimed her parents lives) protects him from the robbers. He later looses the money based on an insider’s information (obviously Majid) after being mercilessly beaten. Sweet Stacey comes to his rescue and re-imburses the stolen amount.

Fred finds himself being emotionally magnetized to Marah, falls in love with her and willingly donates his Kidney and the N2.3 million needed for the surgery. Marah has a second chance at life and reciprocates his love… or so it seems. Majid has his eyes also on Marah. There appears to be a ‘kill before the storm’ until the bubble burst leaving altar bound Stacey emotionally ship wrecked and Marah emotionally re- energised. An unprecedented incident takes place which sets the stage for the fireworks to begin. Envy, betrayal, threats, fury, thunder struck relationships uncover the real intentions behind the smiles.

Majid Michael at the moment happens to be the most sought after Ghanaian actor gracing our flicks edging out his fellow compatriot Van Vicker from the top spot. He’s sent Nollywood a message “Don’t underestimate the acting dexterity of Ghanaian actors”. His meteoric rise and rating in Nollywood has even earned him Top billing during the rolling of the opening credits in Behind a smile. He visually fed us with rich emotional cakes and served us with glasses of refreshing poetic wine…and oh! he amazingly makes a swift 200metres dash to save his life (Ghana Athletics Federation, your athlete awaits you for the 2012 London Summer Olympics). He interpreted his role as the “lean on me ideal partner”. Jim Iyke played the cold, insensitive, deceitful friend. He scored on points with his cold stare, illogical argument based on irrational, shallow thinking and selfish hard core player’s attitude. These actors stood out from the cast and consoled us as we continued to plod along the movie’s path.

The movie suffers from the lack of suspense nutritional elements and creative story line. From the onset viewers already knew Fred had been set up by Majid which wrong move seemingly high jacked our peaceful movie flight. The main gate that was left open which Fred ran through to gain access to Marah’s house whilst fleeing from the robbers, was what ? co-incidental ? It’s amazing that Marah who moves about in a wheel chair left the gate open, for whom? The lady that comes to help her… or did the lady forget to shut it? We’ve watched movies of such nature, “a break in” would have been ideal.

Marah’s friendly attitude to Fred was down right unrealistic, and imagine the robbers who were after the money in the brief case, coincidentally sensing he’d gone in to the house, and not finding him there graciously advising her to keep the door locked! They were certainly ‘good robbers’, we all know what they’re capable of doing, irrespective of the fact that she was on a wheel chair. Marah plays the good host to Fred offering to keep his briefcase and even informs him of a safer route to his car … whether Fred was dressed in a suit or not , being a total stranger would have set her on edge, watching his every move with fright and not wanting to get mixed up with whatever he was involved in. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘Running man’, ‘Commando’ and a host of other movies clearly spells it out… ‘women do not help strangers in questionable circumstances!’

The Editor should have paid attention to details for eg Fred and Marah set off to the beach with Marah dressed in a white/black stripped dress. The next scene she’s dressed differently (not in a beach wear) and the next she’s back to the initial dress she wore. The hospital scene during the advanced stages of the movie was to say the least unconvincing.
Behind a smile is another romantic tale thrown at us but despite its short fall, I still liked the poetic flow… “wishes are for dreamers and fantasists and life is not so kind as to let have the things we wish for”…., “…the answer I get stifles my soul with fright” , a bit of the special make up effects on Fred following the mishap and the thematic content. When next someone gives you an innocent, sheepish, sweet, cold smile… there just might be something behind the smile!


Point’s Rating for Behind a smile : 2
Points Rating Guide
5 points : Classic
4 points : Very good
3 points : Good
2 points : Fair
1 point : An apology