Jolly Roger

Actually the movie starts with the multiple definitions of the title (words) ... so no pun intended with my riffing on that. So I reckon this is another Nollywood output/effort I kind of got tricked into watching. Now I am exaggerating a little bit - I saw this on Netflix and just watched it as it was available, so no one really "tricked" me.

That said, the movie is a nice little drama I reckon, but also has all the flaws I see in the low budget efforts that mostly make their way onto our screens. Acting is mostly subpar, stories seem flawed at best - but that is me, if you are a fan, I am not trying to knock you down or tell you anything about your taste. I am happy for you - but I think even a fan can understand that this is not for everyone ... rather for a few - and it has to be pointed out. Weird ending too - but maybe that was only my feeling.

This Nigerian drama is primarily centred on five people. Friends Brume and Dammy, the two police officers they have taken captive and Brume's wife Najite. It is clear from the start that the two officers are corrupt but it is far from obvious why they in particular have been targeted. Via a series of flashbacks we learn that Brume and Najite have been struggling to conceive a child. Dammy is their doctor and he can't find any obvious reason that they are still childless; how this is relevant to the current predicament is not immediately obvious.

I thought this was a really taut little drama. The present day action takes place within a small apartment which gives a claustrophobic atmosphere. We know from the start that the cops are corrupt but Brume's motives aren't initially obvious; is he another criminal wanting a cut or are his motives deeper? As the story develops there are some solid twists, these are not too obvious, nor are they unrealistic. The cast puts in a fine performance and while occasionally it shows that this wasn't made with a Hollywood budget it doesn't look excessively cheap. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of crime dramas.

Netflix lists this as an English language film; most of the dialogue is in easily understood English but viewers might want to turn on the subtitles as a few lines are in the local language.

Jolly Roger really left us with more questions than answers. There was so much presented to us that we didn't quite get the general goal of the story: We.were.confused.😞

DELICIOUS

-We were so excited to see Paul Gambit handle the cinematography because he already does such a good job with music videos that there was no need to worry. The actors and settings were properly framed and the lighting gave off a natural effect, especially during the night scenes

-We liked how diverse the storytelling was: the scenes juggled between the present (Brume's confrontation with the police officers) and the past (Brume's relationship with his wife). We got to know more about Brume and his entourage

BLAND

-The sound engineering was sadly bad, almost felt like there was a noise removal effect

-Jolly Roger had many components that were not explained: Why did the film begin with 3 definitions of the word 'roger' when it only addressed one? Why was there a character wearing a gas mask as opposed to a regular mask? Why was Brume's living room all covered up in plastic? How did the infertility issue deepen the screenplay? Most importantly, what was the point of Brume passing out in the beginning?

All of these details left us confused about what the screenwriter wanted to project through Jolly Roger...

Jolly Roger tries to tell a Revenge story in a psychopathic way, but failed.

You can't tell a Revenge story without deep emotions; allowing the viewers to share in the hero's pain.

The writer tried to do this but for certain reasons, didn't get the emotions out, at the end, I was even more sympathetic with the officers than the hero.

The story was unnecessarily dragged yet leaving a lot of unanswered questions, like how did the hero prep for this operation?

Overall, I think this movie didn't achieve the narrative of a Revenge or lot of a loved one plot.

Don't get me started on the poor sound engineering, lack of video stability, poor transition and all.

It's a good thing they tried something new. There's room for improvement.