Samlex Electronics Productions presents Rita Dominic (Cece), Ramsey Noah (Paul), Maureen Ihua (Chinewe), Rich Oganiru (Felix), Muna Obiekwe (Solomon). Screenplay, Emeka Nuosu and Joe Dudon; Director of Photography, Mohammed Abdullahi; Executive Producer, Samuel Okafor; Producer, Emeka Nwosu; Director, Amenechi. C2004
In Adim Williams’ screenplay, Stolen Heart, Jim Iyke refuses to let Rita Dominic go even as he destroys her husband, Donald Chidi’s wealth and happiness. In Stolen Heart, she listened and accepted the choice of her parents for a husband. Here in Wasted Effort, she follows her heart to the end even when the father has a pointed pistol at both her and the man of her dream, Paul (Ramsey Noah).
Truth to be said, who’ll ever look into the hazel eyes (my wife has the similar pupil) of Rita Dominic, and slightly go down to the luscious glossy lips and turn your back on her. Jim Iyke couldn’t do so in Stolen Heart, Ramsey Noah (Paul) in Wasted Effort ran from her but came back in a heart beat, pleading on his knees for her to take him back, whisking his married wife out the door. As the title suggests, Wasted Effort is a story in which a well to do businessman, Felix (Rich Oganinu), squanders his money, his love, his happiness, lost his mother to the spirits, and gets beat up by the spirit in pursuit of love with Cece (Rita Dominic) which was never meant to be.
Whereas Adim Williams Stolen Love favors the parents and the suitor, Emeka Nwosu and Joe Dedun’s Wasted Effort favors the love of the daughter’s heart. But the twist of Emeka and Joe’s story is that their main character, Cece is afflicted by a mysterious spirit who couldn’t allow her had a choice in marriage. The first suitor Paul, runs away under the pressure of his mother, the second suitor, Filix, couldn’t listen to his mother, so he lost her to the spirits.
As spirits, voodoo and magic are parts of our daily lives in Africa and Nollywood in particular, I sometimes have to bend the rule of reviewing most of our films in the realm of occults. Characters in such films act not on their accords but go by the dictates of the unseen, the devil, the spirit or the angel. What matters in such films is how good Cece, for instance, acts the part of someone possessed. Oh, she does so very well. A veteran of Nollywood film world, worth over fifty million Naira in assets, and in the top five choices of the industry actresses, I’ve got nothing much on her. She plays the part of affliction very well here.
Wasted Effort is a well-constructed movie. Writers Emeka Nwosu and Joe Dedun did achieve their level of ambition in this project. They started out to show a man in pursuit of a fruitless endeavor and in the end that’s what he gets. Simply put.
I’m taking this moment in the review to extend condolence to the producers of Wasted Effort for the loss of Muna Obiekwe. May his soul rest in perfect peace. I’m always afraid of dying for one reason: The silence after you leave earth like you were never there. But for artists like Muna Obiekwe, he built a monument onto himself that we put him in the class of William Shakespeare and all dramatists. Forever and ever, we shall remember him as a man whose acting brought laughter and joy to our living room. Go gently into that night, bro.