The last time I thoroughly enjoyed a South African commercial action film with SA talent and funding was Blitzpatrollie and before that Jerusalema. iNumber Number takes what worked in those movies and makes it better.
Ladies and gentleman, this is South Africa's own Reservoir Dogs with all the guts, laughter, tension and some cheeky self reflective tendencies in the mix. Let's dig in.
So if you haven’t heard about iNumber Number yet, here's the quick 411: it was meant to be a star vehicle for Sdumo Mtshali, part of his prize for winning the talent show Class Act. See, not all talent shows are like SA Idols, some actually care about the stars and follow through convincingly on a promise to the winners.
So 3 years later we have an action movie starring Sdumo Mtshali (who's now been in IsiBaya, Tempy Pushas, Intersexions, just to mention a few) as a broody cop, trying do right, in a corrupt world with bills to pay.
Sdumo has the physique, the intensity and the gravitas to hold his own against an all star support cast. What a cool ensemble cast iNumber Number has.
The broody cop would not be complete without a totally complete opposite partner, in this case the ever wonderful Presley Chweneyagae (of Tsotsi fame), as the loveable and funny partner Moshoeshoe aka Shoes - the family man with a heart of gold.
These two cops are involved with a cash heist syndicate and to say more about the plot would really spoil it.
Now Donovan Marsh (director of short film Hijack, the movie Spud, producer of Class Act) knows the SA market. Just like QT assembled a band of misfits who are criminal archetypes from the American gang /crime movies in Reservoir Dogs, Marsh does the same for this movie with a strong SA spin.
We have all sorts of South African bad guys ... the ex-military type, the flashy gangster, the dumb gangster, the rough ghetto girl aka Mshoza type, the rough rugged and raw township gangster, the prison gang coloured type, the old school kofifi gangsters and the latest addition to our crime lore, the former celebrity gangster/criminal (aka Mzwakhe Mbuli et al)
They are all here played by a great ensemble cast that includes Israel Makoe aka Ma-orange ( Yizo Yizo 2, Mr.Drum, Zone 14) , Owen Sejake (Masekeng, Yizo Yizo, Zone 14 et al ), Brendon Daniels (who leads another SA film coming out on 28 March Four Corners) - even Ronnie Nyakale (the original Papa Action and MaVesta of A Place Called Home) is in this one.
It’s as if most of the iconic bad guys from South African TV and films are here - the only one missing is Zola and Papa G.
These guys really pull off their characters. You hear it in the dialogue, the slang, wit and the different ways the guys carry themselves. There are variations of SA gangster swag (eish yes I used that word askies).
The film is peppered with laugh-out-loud moments, some of the stuff is pure physical comedy but it’s balanced well with the wit of the actual dialogue and some clever self-referencing to other movies and SA TV culture.
Some of the funniest stuff that shows up has to do with the former celebrity who's part of the gang, it’s cast perfectly and the jokes around him will have you laughing for days.
Most of the fun comes from the fact that the film is very aware that its trying to be fun and cool, it does not shy away from its South African peculiarities. Even its use of subtitles and language speaks to that.
On the action front, for a low budget film, it does not look or feel like a low budget flick - the guys don’t skim on the action and blood squirts. So for the generation raised on Steven Segal and Van Damme movies, you're going to love the action bit which is beautifully shot, choreographed and edited by Marsh and co.
You have your a-mano-a-mano fist fights, we even have a chase sequence and plenty of gun action … the guys at Carlton Centre are not going to stop whistling throughout this movie. Yet the film has a lot of drama and tension so it's not just skop, skiet and donner … there’s a lot of cool suspense in the film where you really are like “please don’t do that - "don’t kill him …ja nee.
Visually, the film is stunning. It kinda reminded me of City of God, the handheld and gold sheen works brilliantly. The film pulls off very cool visual and sound effects.
Although there are one or two missteps in the story, where you're like "Mmmh but wouldn’t this happen?" - some choices taken by the story are iffy but they are not too distracting.
I also found Hlubi Mboya was a bit miscast (I really did not feel her, although she’s a good actress in her own right but I felt she didn’t pull off the character that strongly). Just couldn’t buy her as a Mshoza but that’s me nitpicking too much, overall the strengths of the film are way better than the miniscule missteps there and there.
Although iNumber Number is a straight commercial flick, I'm glad the film does pose some questions that affect us in SA - issues of corruption and victimless crime. In a world were the politicians to the Metro cops are corrupt, how does one stay clean? What are the effects of following suit? How does corruption truly affects us? These are posed with zero sermonizing ...
In conclusion Donovan Marsh has created a classic, something to increase our ever growing crime/gangster catalogue fascination in SA. iNumber Number, like Mapantsula, will still be relevant 30 years from now. It’s that good.
The movie is funny, has suspense, action and a whole lot of heart. Donovan Marsh has thrown the gauntlet to SA directors and writers, especially our black brothers man. It shows that we can tell our stories in our tongues in our own way. It may take three years or more to raise the funding but it can be done. So we need to step up.
Blitz Patrollie, Jerusalema, District 9 were all done by white directors, they're brilliant movies and I’m proud of them but aside from Of Good Report, no film directed by a black director is making big waves. Yeah there was Nothing for Mahala and Elelwani but we still not making enough movies produced and directed by black directors showcasing their world views.
We need to step up our game. Anyhow, enough politics. This is a movie to see … take your uncle with, he’ll love you afterwards. iNumber Number comes out in April and has already been licensed by Universal studio so expect an American version with an Amercian cast soon … the movie is that good, Hollywood wants to shine on its shine.
Rating: ****
*junk **almost bearable ***now we cooking ****almost perfect *****classic
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