TheCable

Seye George (Richard Mofe-Damijo, RMD) is a 55-year-old divorced father of two Temisan (Zainab Balogun) and Sammy (Baaj Adebule). After a chance meeting, he falls for a 25-year-old female youth corper Kaima (Ego Nwosu) who’s rounding up her national youth service in a bank. He helps her get retained by the bank, significant only because the said bank never retains its corpers. And bank manager (Segun Arinze) is very grateful for heeding Mr. George’s advice. Meanwhile, corper Kaima is in a relationship with the much younger Tunji (Ademola Adedoyin) who also works at the bank. Tunji almost has no redeeming qualities: He treats Kaima like a doormat, disrespects her at will, and verbally abuses her. Even in looks and dressing, he is no match for the much older Mr. George. He’s given a very unflattering hairstyle and he definitely doesn’t dress whatever his young age is supposed to be. Mr George, as he’s known for most of the film, turns on the charm or as Kaima tells Tunji in her final tell-off, Mr. George treats her well not just because he likes her but because that’s who he is.

Not surprisingly, Kaima begins to fall for Mr. George, more than twice her age, but treats her like a lady and opens doors for her. Apparently, these things are important to her. Of course, her boyfriend doesn’t do any of those things for her. And even though Tunji the boyfriend says the old man is no competition for him, we all know how that goes. It also happens that RMD whose real age is 60 looks better than some men in their 40s. So, Kaima with a douchebag boyfriend like Tunji, Mr, George with Ame (Nse Ike-Etim) a nag of an ex-wife, isn’t that the stuff romantic dreams are made of?

First off, I like Fine Wine. I need to get that out of the way because it’s important to capture how I felt watching the movie, the several times I’ve watched it on Netflix. I like Fine Wine not because its story is one never told before. Off the top of my head, there’s at least one movie where RMD has fallen in love with a younger woman, his children’s teacher, or governess. There are also things I can quibble about. For instance, there are bits of grammatical misses here and there and Kaima seems to have the most: She says to her sister Kamsi (Itombra Bofie) ‘Where are you going looking all dapper…” or words to the effect. Dapper is used for men. Still Kaima to Mr. George: “I have to meet up with targets and considering my virtues, I’m not ready to compromise any of them.” ‘Considering my virtues’ doesn’t sound correct. A few minutes later, Kaima again: “Anything I could help with…?” In this instance, ‘anything I can help with’ suffices. Then, Angela to Kaima: ‘I know I told you to rough it up with Tunji, “grow old with him together…”

But I still like Fine Wine because it’s easy on the eye, in a manner of speaking. Fine Wine has many things going for it, top of which for me is the acting. RMD makes it look effortless. It’s perhaps one of the few times I’ve seen him appear to be unconscious of his RMD-ness. Zainab Balogun delivers, as usual. (I’ve had cause to write about her acting in the past). Even though I’m not familiar with Ego Nwosu’s acting, I like her measured delivery.  I also like the chemistry between the characters. For instance, Mr. George and his sidekick Akin (Keppy Ekpenyong Bassey) are very believable. Keppy gives a great performance. Someone less skilled could’ve exposed the flatness of the character. Akin doesn’t really have a life outside of his rich friend. Even when he talks, most of what he says has to do with his friend’s life. We don’t know where he lives and we never get to see his twins, his kids who’re mentioned a couple of times.

Nonetheless, there’s an issue with the female characters in Fine Wine. With the possible exception of Zainab Balogun’s character (Temisan), almost every other female character has a major flaw. Tina Mba’s character as Kaima’s mother is desperate for marriage for her daughter. She says to Kaima that if she’d moved in with her boyfriend, he would’ve proposed by now. She’s not interested in the fact that Tunji treats her daughter like trash. Marriage is the ultimate. It’s the same role she plays in Finding Hubby (directed by Femi Ogunsanwo) as Oyin Clegg’s mother (Ade Laoye). In that movie, she encourages her daughter to hold on to her fiancé, after catching him with another man in a compromising situation, in their house for that matter. Mr. George’s ex-wife Ame (Nse Ikpe Etim) almost has no redeeming virtue except of course she gave Mr. George his two “beautiful children.” Job done. Even a woman like her can be useful as a baby carrier.

As for the other women like Kaima’s sister Kamsi (Itombra Bofie), we are made to believe she’s settling for less with her long-term boyfriend Andrew (Kameel Audu) because he buys gifts for her mother, and everyone thinks they’re perfect together. Then for Kaima, it’s good that she decides to leave Tunji and that she realizes she deserves better. But I would’ve liked for her to have left her no-good boyfriend because she thought of her self-worth/self-esteem. And not because of the emergence of a Prince Charming in the form of Mr. George who has come to save the damsel in distress. Kaima basically doesn’t have anyone in her life encouraging her to think better of herself. Not her mother, and not her friend. Her younger sister is proud of her, after the fact. If there had been no Mr. George, she too would’ve pressed her to “rough it up with Tunji.” Women deserve better.

• FINE WINE

Director: Seyi Babatope

Featuring: Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ego Nwosu, Ademola Adedoyin, Zainab Balogun, Keppy Ekpenyong Bassey, Segun Arinze, Tina Mba, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Belinda Effah, Baaj Adebule