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Tell Me Sweet Something

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Nomzamo Mbatha and Maps Maponyane in Tell Me Sweet Something. (Facebook)
Nomzamo Mbatha and Maps Maponyane in Tell Me Sweet Something. (Facebook)

What it's about:

Moratiwa (Nomzamo Mbatha) is an aspiring novelist with writer's block. She hasn't had much luck with love ever since her ex-boyfriend Norman went out to buy milk and never came back. Moratiwa now runs a second-hand bookshop in the hippest most vibrant part of the new Johannesburg, unfortunately in the glamorous world of it girls and boys; books are not 'a thing'. Tired of having a recluse as a best friend, Tashaka (Thishiwe Ziqubu) convinces her to party up a storm at a new club in the city; it is here that she meets South Africa's no.1 celebrity model Nat Masilo (Maps Maponyane) or as she nicknames him 'The 45 Foot Man'.

What we thought:

Set in the backdrop of Johannesburg, I was pleasantly surprised that a love story was set up in the City of Gold. The Maboneng precinct was filled with cinematic moments, from passionate sunset rooftop kisses to romantic bike rides, the City of Gold was definitely was out to prove a point.

Speaking of passionate kisses, Maps Maponyane and Nomzamo Mbatha definitely heated up the screens with their palpable chemistry. Not only were these two easy on the eyes, but also the fact that it was both their first time on the big screen, made their chemistry organic which was quite refreshing to watch.

But sadly not even the chemistry of these two could save the film. The generic story line was very outdated and much the same as every other romantic comedy I’ve watched.

As we know there’s always a couple of bumps in a romantic genre before it can reach it’s “happily ever after”. And although this movie has a couple of twists you may not expect, it was trying too hard to not fit that mould of “happily ever after” that it became too long-winded to digest everything that was going on.

There were several moments in the film I felt the dialogue was going nowhere and that scenes should just be scrapped entirely because there was no point for it.

The redundant storyline between the main characters and continuous back and forth made parts a bore to watch that even that rather intense bath scene made me feel nothing (not even tingles).

Clichéd parts, (spoiler alert, Nat potentially being a baby daddy to someone else) could be seen by a mile and maybe even further away that I longed for moments where the supporting cast played by comedian Kagiso Lediga, Thembi Seete and especially Thomas Gumede, provided the much needed comedic moments in the otherwise sappy parts.

Lastly, the elderly people’s stories of how they met and stayed together, I found rather sweet and endearing. It broke the very slow-moving story up nicely, and gave me something truly authentic to hold onto.

The title of the film pretty much sums up what you expect of it, an overly sweet story filled with generic young love. The only difference is the backdrop.

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