Catch.er is one of the movies I look forward to seeing this October. After the acclaimed success of Waltbanger’s 2015 Gbomo Gbomo Express, he established a claim to Nigeria’s finest in the crime genre. So, many, including me, were pumped to see Catch.er.

I finally did, and I have mixed feeling about the movie. The idea was great; execution was nowhere near perfect.

THE STORY
The daughter of a wealthy man, Abby Bello (Beverly Naya), has just been murdered in her home. On the day of her murder, she caught her husband in bed with another lady.

Detective Komolafe, a chain smoker, played by the charming OC Ukeje has the job of unraveling who her killer is. Abby’s husband and a colleague who has locked horns with her are the prime suspects, but the actual killer was a surprise.

CATCH.ER: THE GOOD
The movie had plenty flashbacks that explained the various events leading to the death of the deceased. All were perfectly executed. I like how they avoided the traps of using black and white pictures to depict past events.

The idea is foreign to Nollywood but highly welcome. I am not sure I have watched a Nigerian movie that looked at crime from this angle. So, this was refreshing, and the shots were picture perfect.

OC Ukeje nailed his role as detective Komolafe. He was intimidating, cocky, charismatic and his ability to swing mood to get the best (worst) out of the suspects was apt. Blossom Chukwujekwu (Brume) and Alexx Ekubo (Tony) played their role very well too. It was natural; you could tell these guys were under pressure and scared. The acting was top notch.

CATCH.ER: THE BAD
Catch.er dragged for too long. At some point, I got bored, and you might also if you have zeroed your mind on being entertained or intrigued. Few minutes you are excited and the next you are bored, or you start to follow, and you get lost. Wofaifada was there to help you laugh, but that did not help.

Some scenes were also useless to the story. The scene (Spoiler alert) where Tope Tedela character goes to the hotel to hook up with the girl that Abby caught sleeping with her husband did not have any relevance to the story.

Suspense was the one thing Catch.er was supposed to nail but it fell short in this department. The buildup to catching the killer will not keep you on your toes, and in the end, you are like: oh, that is it?

CONCLUSION
Catch.er, for me, lived up to its hype. Although, I wished the makers had given us more and that I did not get lost at a point. The acting was great; it was the movie’s saving grace. I love the soundtrack too; each time music came up, it was perfect for the scene.

I think it is the type of movie that film geeks – critics, movie makers and actors – will enjoy but an average person who watches movies for entertainment will find it hard to watch and boring.



It is available in Genesis Cinema nationwide.