Moses Inwang dares another psychological thriller titled, “Crazy People” and Ramsey Nouah plays lead in a dual role.
In the story, Nollywood star Ramsey Nouah escapes from the Rosewood Medical Centre, a mental facility, with fellow inmate Lucinda Opara. Chioma “Chigul” Omeruah plays Lucinda.
Upon his escape, Ramsey discovers that he had been impersonated for over a year whilst he was confined to the medical facility. Lucinda becomes Ramsey’s new manager. And together, they haunt for the impostor in order to revive Ramsey’s career.
Ramsey and Lucinda trail the impostor within the entertainment industry circles. But they arrive just a little too late every time they get a lead. Officials of the medical facility also searching for the escapee.
Doctor Oloko (Iretiola Doyle) of Rosewood Medical Centre later reveals the identity of the impersonator. He is Alfred (Benjamin Lugo Touitou), a schizophrenic. Lucinda had manipulated Touitou into believing that he was Ramsey and convinced him to escape from the facility. Sadly, the reveal is an anticlimax and the message about mental health which the movie hopes to bring to the fore is somewhat lost.
Nouah is a fan-favourite. Yet again, he does not let his fans down. It is however more refreshing to see Chigul take-on a non-comical role. The Lucinda character is complex and the most impressive in story. Not many Nollywood actors could have played this character but Chigul does a decent job. She plays coocoo characteristically well.
Moses Inwang’s “Crazy People” has good production values and camerawork. The scene where Touitou hallucinates about a polo game is truly splendid. Still, he is yet to find his sweet spot with psychological thrillers but he should be applauded for daring to do something different.
Inwang’s “Crazy People” has been dubbed a “psychological comic thriller” and it is unclear whether this is a bonafide genre. What is clear is that the attempts to inject comedy by featuring comedian Mr. Patrick as Lucinda’s informant detracted from the movie. It would have been a lot better were it purely a psychological thriller. After all said, the film is not half as bad as a lot of the highly publicised ‘top-grossing’ movies in Nigerian cinema.
Directed By Moses Inwang
Written By Patrick Nnamani, Koye Olugbenle and Moses Inwang.
Cast includes; Ramsey Nouah, Chioma “Chigul” Omeruah, Benjamin Touitou Lugo, Ireti Doyle, Sola Sobowale, Monalisa Chinda, Desmond Elliot, Bryan Okwara, Kunle Afolayan, Funny Bone and Mr. Patrick.
