Gone the movie tells the story of a boxer “Ani” who traveled to New York in search of better opportunities but somehow landed in prison.
The storyline was nice, casting and acting was really good. Sam Dede really did well, his interpretation of the role was perfect. Special accolades to Gabriel Afolayan, his delivery was top notch.
The movie was very emotional and if you are a cry baby like me, I’m sure you cried at some point.
I had some issues with the movie. First, it started really slow, too slow if you ask me.
They did not devote time and effort into developing the introductory part of the movie, they were counting on the emotional parts in the middle to make up for that shortcoming.
Ani was a rising boxer in Nigeria, but they only showed us the same flashback all through the movie and what was he boxing? A bag. For someone they called Ani the Animal, I expected to see boxing scenes with his opponent’s blood splattered, eyes and mouth swollen, to drive home how skilled he was. There was nothing.
Also, it would have been nice to see a bit of the struggling Ngozi had to endure with her children. Anuchukwu was working as a stripper, why????
They expected us to believe that circumstances forced her to take on such a job but what circumstances exactly? Their house looked nicely furnished, Ngozi wore nice clothes and wigs, their condition did not look bad at all. So why exactly will any mother encourage her daughter to continue to work at a stripper’s club even when she came home with bruises? They were not even suffering.
Another major flaw I could not overlook was the whole drama at the beginning. As soon as Ani got out of jail, 2 guys recognized him and reported him to their boss. Those boys did not look old enough to have been around when he went to jail 25years ago. They could not have been waiting for him there either because there was no way they would have known he was coming out that night.
Ani was not into drugs or ammunitions, which means any amount of money he was owing could not have been anything substantial enough for them keep tabs and wait for him after 25years.
Even their so called boss (I assume he was the show promoter who borrowed Ani the money in 1993) did not look old enough. Ani was looking older than him.
So the first few scenes of the movie did not make sense to me.
Ani was out of jail on Parole, he violated the terms of the parole by missing his appointment with the Parole Officer scheduled to take place the next day, and he traveled out of the country without permission which in itself is another violation.
What happens if a parolee violates the conditions of parole? A warrant may be issued for arrest, parole may be revoked in which case the parolee must return to prison to complete his sentence.
Let’s assume that Ani did not get flagged at the airport and he was able to leave the United States, he would never willingly go back because they would most likely arrest him. So I don’t understand how he was able to go back with Ngozi to New York o.
It seems the movie director forgot to take into consideration the technicalities around “Parole”
I did not like the end of the movie, I don’t think Ngozi should have broken her engagement with Sir Phillips. Even though she and Ani settled their differences and he would now take his place as the father of his children, the bond with the woman just seemed broken to me and it felt like they were forcing “happily ever after” on us.
What was that last scene with Sir Phillips and Ani ????
Overall, the beginning did not work, the end did not work either but the middle was not bad.
Rating: 5.5/10
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