Movie Review: Mercy Johnson, Jim Iyke, Jide Kosoko tried hard to be funny in Passport

I was pretty excited when I saw big actors like Jim Iyke, Mercy Johnson, Zubby Michael, Jide Kosoko and Adedimeji Lateef in the Nollywood movie; Passport. If not for anything else, I was sure I would watch good acting, and they didn’t disappoint. 

We will find out if this good acting was enough to sustain the movie. 

Passport is the story of Kobiko (Mercy Johnson), an area tomboy who wanted to contest for local government chairman against Terminator (Zubby Michael). She is paid little attention to because she is a female, but she is determined to become the next chairman because of her passion for improving her area. Kobiko has a very sick mum whom she and her sister have no money to take care of.

Oscar, who was rushing out of Kobiko’s village to see his sick mother, is stuck after his uncle’s car suffers a flat tire, and he is forced to seek help from Kobiko’s sister and her friend. 

Unfortunately for Oscar, Kobiko’s sister steals his bag that has his Passport and goes ahead to sell it out. 

 Oscar is forced to seek help from Kobiko to recover the bag, and it is in this search that the drama is embedded. 

As much as I cannot say Nollywood movie Passport has a fantastic storyline, I also cannot ignore the fact that the storyline was straightforward and nice. The writer could convey his message clearly, and it wasn’t a bad watch. However, there was absolutely nothing to look up to. There were no high and low moments, no suspense and no point of excitement. The storyline was just bland. Considering the potential of that story, the writer would have had an excellent piece with a little more effort. 

For some reason, the film was dragged at the beginning and almost became annoying. Also, it seemed like they were forcing the comedy down our throats. For example, Mercy Johnson could repeat a seemingly funny dialogue 3 times as if she is trying to say, “ I am making a joke, oya, please laugh”

For one, I commend the director for his choice of cast. He must have taken the time to select his actors, which was a good one. Asides from that, there is really nothing worthy of note that the director of Passport did in the movie. 

The acting is the selling point of this movie. I almost didn’t care about the blandness of the storyline because the actors did a good job. Wherever the director got Lina Idoko from, other directors must go and fish actors there. She did well, and it would be amazing to see her on screen more often. Also, I will be surprised if Emeka Nwagborocha doesn’t stammer in real life because he made it look so believable. 

Mercy Johnson, Jim Iyke, Jide Kosoko, Zubby Michael and Adedimeji Lateef also brought their A-game into this movie. I am impressed, I must say. 

 For ratings, it will get a 6/10.