"Love In Every Word" Wants You to Remember That Odogwu No Be Guy Name
Uzor Arukwe and Bambam shine in this romance movie from Omoni Oboli
I promised myself Iβll only write straight to your inbox this year when I have something important to say. I think this is. At least, it seemed that way when I spent my Sunday afternoon watching and penning the earliest version of this newsletter. Bored and awaiting Sunday rice and stew to be set, my hands fiddled with YouTube and on to a movie that had been all over social media, even down to my inbox. Itβd been chasing me, left and right, like a stubborn fly that had seen its better half, and so the first chance I got, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The titleβ¦ Love In Every Word, aka Odogwu Pararan. πΊπΊπΊ
Firstly, this is a straight-to-YouTube movie, so itβs somewhat new territory for me. Laju Irenβs Last To Marry was my first; the next was this one by Omoni Oboli. I never thought Iβd be one of those people whoβd willingly sit through a YouTube movie, but here we are. People change; Iβm no different. I bring this notice herein to give fair warning. If youβre one of those who has sworn to NEVER see a YouTube movie, this is your get out of jail free card. Thanks for coming. See you in the next piece. Bye-bye. But if you live for feel-good stories, regardless of where they debut, youβll want to stick with me.
But be warned: This review will contain spoilers!
In Love In Every Word, Odogwu Obiora aka Odogwu pararan wants you to know that odogwu no be guy name. And he does a lot to prove that. Heβs a talk and do guy, a man of words and action to match, and so I believe thatβs where the apt title comes from. Iβm not the biggest fan of the title, but I get it.
Like most YouTube movies, this is a self-contained one featuring a small cast that is very reflective of the tight budget used to bring the story to life. Itβs mostly Uzor Arukwe and BamBam Adenibuyan as Odogwu and Chioma, respectively, with a very small group of recurring actors who play a revolving array of characters we see. Thinking back now, I count seven (7) characters in total, which makes sense, if you want a picture that looks half as decent as what you might get on a big budget production, you want to keep overhead costs as low as possible and rely mostly on the strength of the story at hand to keep viewers invested. This does that well enough.
Chioma is a woman fresh out of a dead-end, two-year relationship with Davisβa man so uncertain about life, youβd think he was waiting for divine intervention to chart a new course. Then comes Odogwu, a self-assured businessman in his mid-40s, unmarried but undeterred. The film makes an effort not to raise a lot of dust about him being unmarried at his age or the age difference between them, so weβll meet them halfway by not talking about it (for now *insert mischievous laughter*).
The first time Odogwu meets Chioma, he declares his intent to marry her. Just like that. The story makes an effort to paint it as a love-at-first-sight incident for him. An intentional man who knows what he wants and isnβt afraid to go for it. For her? Maybe not immediately, but itβs hard to deny sheβs drawn to his presence. She laughs at his audacity at first, but the second time he repeats himself, thereβs something in her gazeβintrigue, maybe even admiration. Some love stories are written in the stars; this one feels like it was inked with bold strokes. We establish there is mutual attraction on both ends by the first one-third of the movie, so what then do we spend the remaining two parts doing, you might be wondering. We watch Chioma struggle with making peace with Odogwuβs intrusive Igbotic accent and a last-minute βtwistβ of Chiomaβs paternity issues and why itβs the real reason behind her indecisiveness with accepting Odogwuβs proposal.
Itβs a lot, but as the characters managed to circumvent their problems, so also did they manage to keep me invested in watching, munching an imaginary pack of popcorn by my side, and holding on to my attention.
Thereβs so much I liked about Love In Every Word, and they can all be summed into how much of my intelligence it feigns to respect. Of course, Odogwu buying up the building where Chioma works and showing up at his workplace with an entourage of ogene musicians just to ask for her phone number might be too ludicrous, but I have a thing with looking out for the 1% of the 1% in society. If Odogwu says heβs wealthy and his doings match up to his words, who am I not to be entertained?
I liked BamBam and Uzor Arukwe in their respective roles. They had so much chemistry that even the devil might be jealous. The cracking energy in their scenes together, the nuzzling aura of their visible mismatch, yet the acquiescence that even though they shouldnβt work in theory, they seem perfect in practice. The casting does a lot of the heavy lifting here, and it is met halfway by a writing that is smooth and potently lyrical. The world, albeit small, feels lived-in, and I liked the way the characters spoke and the attention to detail in extracting the most natural performances from the cast (most of the time). How friends talk over each other, how motherly advice lands with a mix of exasperation and wisdom, how love blossoms in small, unassuming moments. I started watching just to see what the fuss on social media was about, but somewhere between Odogwuβs unwavering declarations and Chiomaβs surrender, the film won me over. It respected my time, my intelligence, and my emotionsβand these earned it my respect in return. I am grateful because, as easy as this sounds, itβs not usually the case with a lot of productions these days.
But itβs never all sunshine and rainbows.
It almost never is.
For all its charm, thereβs a smallness to the world of Love In Every Word that makes it hard to ignore that this is, indeed, a YouTube film. Iβve heard that it takes a bit of getting used to, these kinds of movies, but it still needs to be said. Thereβs no real urgency to the conflicts and no sense that anything outside of Odogwu and Chiomaβs bubble could shake things up. He courts her with the certainty of a man who knows no competition exists. And I know I said I love the lives of the 1%, but there are only too many stretches my brain can conveniently excuse for grand gestures.
One moment, heβs in Anambra; the next, heβs in Lagos, surprising her at work with a loud musical band. One moment, Chioma is randomly window-shopping at a diamond store with her friends, and the next, Odogwu waltzes into the same store βof all the many stores in the worldβ to buy diamonds for his conveniently mentioned niece who just graduated top of her class. Moments like these make this world feel overly neat, stripping away some of the realism the film otherwise excels at. They also open room for debate about whether Odogwuβs actions lean more toward grand romantic gestures or full-blown love bombing with a tinge of stalking.
In the end, Love In Every Word does what it sets out to doβtell the story of how Odogwu and Chioma found their way to each other. Whether you buy into that story depends on where you stand: Are you a believer in whirlwind romance? Do you trust Odogwuβs intentions? However you slice it, this one has given us plenty to talk about.
BamBam is a revelation. As Chioma, she delivers some of her best acting yet, selling herself as a serious contender in an industry where talent doesnβt always guarantee recognition. She makes Chioma feel realβmessy and indecisive, but ultimately compelling. And Uzor Arukwe? Playing an Igbotic man is his bread and butter; throw in a bit of love, and weβre drawn even closer to one actor who keeps trying not to be stereotyped. He embodies Odogwu with a mix of charm and authority that makes it easy to see why Chiomaβand the audienceβmight be drawn to him. Whether heβs the quintessential lover boy, a simp par excellence, or a stalker is a conversation for another day.
Love In Every Word is showing on Omoni Oboli TV on YouTube.
I have a video review of the movie on YouTube, too. Click HERE to watch it.
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