Today I was browsing through the movie collections I've on my phone, and I came across Breaded Life, which was a very intriguing movie I watched some years ago. At first it actually looks like another comedy movie in the beginning, but as I watch on, it turns out to be an exciting movie that carries a much deeper message that can be said to be, though, provoking, dramatic, and much more, to name but a few.
The movie itself was based on the life of Sunmi, played by Timini Egbuson, who was a young man that was born into a wealthy family, but then the wealth has gotten so much to his head that he becomes arrogant, irresponsible, entitled and, most of all, disrespectful, even to his mother. Unfortunately and surprisingly for him, things took a strange turn one day when he woke up, only to realise every single person in his family doesn't know him again. It didn't end there; even his friends don't know him, and at first it thought it was a plan orchestrated by his mother to teach him a lesson, but after checking through the family album and not finding himself therein and even taking the family to the police station and still not being able to prove who he is, he ended up stranded on the street. And that was when he met Todowede, acted by Bimbo Ademoye, a bread seller, who happens to be the only that recognised him.
And from that moment his life took a drastic U-turn, because he literally went from living in abundance and comfort to someone who depends on a total stranger, Todowede, for survival. In the long run, she introduced him to some people who got him a job to work at the bakery, and this phase of his life helped me to experience life in a different kind of way, opening his eyes to the things he had once taken for granted. But then, he soon got accustomed to the new life and struggled and went on to build his own life from scratch, even falling in love with Todowede in the process and making plans to build their own bakery and store.
What I find enjoyable about Breaded Life is how they were able to use comedy here and there in the movie to communicate concrete messages without making the movie seem like a lecture room; it takes a high level of intelligence to do that. The movie has a bit of things, and that, for instance, I had lots of scenes that made me roll on the floor in laughter, especially scenes Todowede are in, but beyond that, there are scenes that also made me think about how some people can be ungrateful, probably because they've never experienced what it means to go through hardship.
Timini Egbuson did an amazing job as he transitioned from one character to the other. I mean, I used to think he was someone who was good at acting the big boy or rich kid lifestyle, but I never expected he'd nail the ghetto lifestyle to the level he did. On the other hand, Bimbo Ademoye was life in the salt of the movie; she graced the movie with lots of energy and humour, and her connection with Sunmi was once that which helped the story. They both shared an extraordinary chemistry whenever they acted together in movies, and this didn't disappoint.
But then, it's worth knowing that the movie story was built in an unrealistic situation, or should I call it an unrealistic supernatural coincidence, based on how it turns out; everything that happens was merely a dream during Sunmi time, with a comma after an accident. But overall, I believe the director and scriptwriter did a good job, because the world they created works just fine. My takeaway and lesson from the movie is how people tend not to appreciate what they've until they lose it and have to struggle to get a glimpse of it again. And that's why we all must understand that even though money can provide us with comfort, it's well ourselves that must adopt humility and gratitude as character. Although the movie is portrayed as comedy, but deep down it teaches that how we treat those around us when we've things in abundance speaks volumes about our personality.
Rating: 80/100
