Netflix present Noxolo Dlamini (Dimo), Presley Chwenevao (Shoes), Bongile Mantsai (Hyena man), Deon Lotz, Fana Makoena (Priest), S’dumo Mtshali (Chili Ncgobo), Brenda Naxoli (Nandi Donga), Clementine Mosimane, Tumie Naumia (Tumi), Mxolist Nodum(Dikeledi). Director/Writer, Donovan Marsh; Producer, Schalk Burger, Harriet Gavshon, Nimrod Geva, Donovan Marsh, Israel Matseke-Zulu (Zizi), JP Potgieter; Cinematographer, Tom Marais. © 2023
i Number Number: Jozi Gold, is a buddy-buddy movie with lots of beef to it. Indeed, it has structural substance hardly experienced with African movies and is only comparable to the Western cinema counterparts. I am not by any means comparing the toddler, Nollywood to its father, Hollywood––may God forbid–– but simply in terms of the production efficacies. I am referring to the mise en scene and the aura. iNumber Number: Jozi Gold satisfies those qualities.
Buddy-buddy stories are beautifully used in drama pertaining to law enforcement, the police force. Where a partner on the detail could be a man and a woman, and in the line of duty fall in love; a man and another man could be like a father figure to a younger partner, and advises him from time to time; one of the partners could be hot-headed, drinks a lot, and often bout with PSD, and most times break police bounds. It takes a partner to ring in another partner who has recently lost another partner and constantly blames himself for not having protected his partner enough; another who has lost his marriage and whose wife took his children away, and he is losing his mind over it.
The South African detective department has to burst a gold smuggling ring and sends her best, Chili (S’dumo Mtshali), a young and unmarried officer in the detective department. As such the story needed a Mel Gibson’s-Lethal Weapon (1998)-like character, or Bruce Willis’s-Die Hard (2013)-like one, who can stand up to the corrupt South African police department; one with incomparable strength, bravery, and bravado about him. Somebody like one on a self-suicidal mission. Chili has it. He’s a stud. Young and unbridled.
Chili is the movie younger brother of another detective, Shoes (Presley Chwenevao), and a buddy too who looks out for the young kid, Chili. He is a young carefree detective, volunteering to go on the mission to stand up to the gold smuggling ring in Johannesburg and bring them to book. Yet, he has to contend with a Hyena man (Bongile Mantsai)––a man guarded by a live hungry-looking hyena. Chili has no idea that the department he works for has an inside jobber who sabotages and double-crosses the good work of honest working officers. He faces off with the Hyena man, but when Shoes brings him in, the Hyena man is released back onto the street. Chili is disappointed and matter of fact quits the force, though temporarily.
Upon leaving the force, he visits his oldest brother in the ghetto township. His oldest brother, Priest (Fanna Mokoena) manages a parochial school for handicapped and homeless kids. Chili and Shoes were brought up here, but for lack of funds, he too, will be losing the facility for he owes a loan to the bank. He urges Chili to go back to the force and be a good role model for the children who admire him.
Shoes talks Chili to come back into the police force and he can convince the department that the only capable person in the force that would fight the gold smuggling syndicate would be Chili. There is a large haul of gold from the Lisotho dictator to be minted in South Africa, away from the probing eyes of his citizens. Chili goes under and joins the gang of thieves set to interrupt this operation. Yet, he has to contend with the Hyena Man, and there is a murderous bout with him, where Chili shouts, “He sold me a fool’s gold,” and Hyena Man responds, “He’s a cop!” and Chili yells back, “I am no more a cop!” before they could be united in the gang.
As such, Chili is split between serving his government and the gang who are more like a Robinhood gang of criminals; they steal gold from the despotic government of Lesotho, then mint it into coins in Johannesburg, and distribute it to the citizens of Lesotho––Secret Of The Night/Nollywood (2004). The Nigerian gangsters kill big shots who steal from the coffers of the government. They are not the same here.–– Chili believes he can use this opportunity to help his brother with funds to pay for the home he and Shoes raised.
Chili joins the underground family of the gang but one thing seriously bugs him: he is split between having allegiance to the government of South Africa and the gold smuggling gang. When the gold comes Chili impersonates the dictator’s son, and the operation is successful. But, Brigadier, Nandi Donga (Brenda Ngxoli) in the South African police force is in cahoot with the gang; she waylaid the operation and turns it into her operation for her benefit. The Brigadier of South African police double-crosses her department and thinks she’s in the clear to make a successful get-away. But no.
As usual, Shoes shows up to help his brother and buddy in the force out of the quagmire. He is successful. Chili can make away with a bar of gold that will go on to pay for the home their oldest brother manages. But the Brigadier of the police force in charge of catching the gang wants to get a share of the loot.
What bothers me about this movie is the title. Just as it is puzzling, it has to take one with mathematical knowledge to decipher the undecipherable title. Movie titles could be succinct, easy to remember, and common to viewers. i Number Number, at first sight, doesn’t mean anything. Even to me the reviewer, the title is undecipherable. I hated maths in school; yes, anything that had to do with numbers screwed the hell out of me. I never had the patience to mess with square roots. At one glance at this title, naming numbers and numbers, to common folks like me doesn’t mean a thing.
Don’t know much about trigonometry
Don’t know much about algebra
Don’t know what a slide rule is for
But I do know [sic] what a simple literary topic is.
Sam Cooke
Naming a movie with the intent to attract the audience doesn’t have to take them to task. Movie titles like “MzGan, Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” wouldn’t have meant anything to the audience. Pretty Woman (1990) was almost called “3000,” and The Breakfast Club (1985) was originally titled, “The Lunch Bunch.” Most studios use working titles for movies and eventually christen those projects, with titles that appropriately sum up all and total essence of the story. Even as I struggled to review this project––a beautiful narrative, to booth–– I couldn’t decipher the title or its essence to the project, hence my above quotation.