This was not the most professional movie I've ever seen -- the dialogue was clunky and some of the editing was abrupt. But I thought the acting was pretty good and the cinematography was gorgeous. It was great to see Jamaica, Barbados and Ghana all well-represented in nonstereotypical ways. It is rare to see the Caribbean or Africa depicted on the big screen without resorting to cliches about exotic beaches or crime or war. So I encourage people from the diaspora to see it.
3 Reviews
An Incoherent Mess
Cate_B18 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
MILD SPOILERS AHEAD.
Two stars because it had some genuinely, intentionally, funny moments but other than that this film is just terrible. There is a clear lack of understanding of even the most basic elements of storytelling.
The film does hardly anything to develop its characters who can hardly be described as a loose collection of character traits. They are that underdeveloped. There are entire characters that exist for no purpose and the plot lines that they are tied to do nothing to serve the story this film is about and message it tries - and miserably fails - to deliver.
A love interest is introduced that has no bearing on the plot or story. She is so inconsequential that she is gotten rid of off-screen A friend from Ghana is introduced and by the time Joseph goes to Ghana, you've already forgotten about this friend because the film forgets about him too until he is arguably relevant again. His sister and their sibling rivalry are just there for artificial conflict. Her character and her plotline do not in anyway tie into the theme or the story at all. A random uncle shows up when the film is wrapping up that was never mentioned or even hinted at and he's just there, in the film, like he had been there all along.
For a film that is apparently about a Jamaica man who journeys to Ghana in order to discover his African roots, very little of the film is dedicated to that. At about an hour and fifty minutes in length, it was not until about the final forty or so minutes (maybe less) that Joseph actually went to Ghana. Even then only about ten or so minutes of it actually shows him arriving in and exploring Ghana. It then skips forward two years and he's still there, living his life and there is no more exploration of what he learned about himself or his heritage. None. We don't at all get to see much of anything about him learning about his heritage. The film doesn't actually do the thing it was supposed to do.
The film is more about delivering the message that bush/alternative/traditional medicine is good (maybe even it's saying better?) than Western medicine. But it contradicts itself there as well because in one scene Western medicine actually helps an ailing child when bush medicine failed him but later in the film it's apparently the key to curing HIV/AIDS? It's not entirely clear what the film is trying to say there with that particular message because it's such a muddled mess that it can't get it's messaging across. There is far more of the film dedicated to the Western Vs traditional medicine dichotomy than there is to the exploration of African heritage. The entire film is about it in fact when the latter is all of a collective fifteen or so minutes.
The first hour of Joseph is absolutely unnecessary. Nothing of relevance happens. No character development. No plot development. No theme development. Nothing. It could be cut out and the film would be no different. And it's this first hour - and then some to be honest - in which the most plot lines and characters that have nothing to do with anything, that don't support the story or theme, are present.
To add insult to injury, it's obvious that multiple scenes that should be in the film aren't but over an hour was dedicated to what amounts to little more than filler. It's missing necessary connective tissue.
The plot - if one can even call it that - doesn't even follow the basic idea of a plot being a cause and effect chain of events. Things just happen and then they're over. Plot elements that are introduced on-screen are resolved off-screen and a character comes in and tells you what happened to resolve it. Those obviously missing scenes I mentioned? That's one of the most blatant offenses of it.
THE essential rule of film that Joseph violates to a large degree is "show, don't tell." It's hardly much of anything but exposition. Even if the lower thirds indicate a passage of time a character will then come in and tell you have much time has passed immediately after.
It's also obvious that next to no research was done into the medical aspects of the film. It's the medical equivalent of techno-babble found in sci-fi films that have no interest in adhering to the idea of believability and plausibility. It's that bad. None of the doctors in this film (Joseph's entire family, mind you) sound like they're actually doctors. In fact, the first time we see his mother she is carrying on an entire conversation on her cellphone while tending to a patient. And that's the only time we ever see her working.
There's also a domestic violence joke thrown in. It was, needless to say, tasteless and crass.
The only actor with any talent was the man who played Joseph's father. The grandfather's actor was good as well but be had one scene. Kevoy Burton can make a living on The CW. The acting, overall, was bad to atrocious.
The sound design was terrible. The editing was as much of a catastrophic mess as the unfocused "plot." It at least didn't look like it was shot on a potato but the cinematography left a lot to be desired.
I would be surprised if this film doesn't exist just so the producers - and the cast really, especially the random uncle that materialised out of nowhere - could be paid to go to Ghana for the Year of Return. It's the only way this film's existence can be justified.
In my opinion, any good reviews you see about this film are just people liking the idea of what the film is supposed to be rather than what it actually is; people of African descent wanting to connect to the idea of rediscovering their heritage, something that this film barely pays lip service to.
Two stars because it had some genuinely, intentionally, funny moments but other than that this film is just terrible. There is a clear lack of understanding of even the most basic elements of storytelling.
The film does hardly anything to develop its characters who can hardly be described as a loose collection of character traits. They are that underdeveloped. There are entire characters that exist for no purpose and the plot lines that they are tied to do nothing to serve the story this film is about and message it tries - and miserably fails - to deliver.
A love interest is introduced that has no bearing on the plot or story. She is so inconsequential that she is gotten rid of off-screen A friend from Ghana is introduced and by the time Joseph goes to Ghana, you've already forgotten about this friend because the film forgets about him too until he is arguably relevant again. His sister and their sibling rivalry are just there for artificial conflict. Her character and her plotline do not in anyway tie into the theme or the story at all. A random uncle shows up when the film is wrapping up that was never mentioned or even hinted at and he's just there, in the film, like he had been there all along.
For a film that is apparently about a Jamaica man who journeys to Ghana in order to discover his African roots, very little of the film is dedicated to that. At about an hour and fifty minutes in length, it was not until about the final forty or so minutes (maybe less) that Joseph actually went to Ghana. Even then only about ten or so minutes of it actually shows him arriving in and exploring Ghana. It then skips forward two years and he's still there, living his life and there is no more exploration of what he learned about himself or his heritage. None. We don't at all get to see much of anything about him learning about his heritage. The film doesn't actually do the thing it was supposed to do.
The film is more about delivering the message that bush/alternative/traditional medicine is good (maybe even it's saying better?) than Western medicine. But it contradicts itself there as well because in one scene Western medicine actually helps an ailing child when bush medicine failed him but later in the film it's apparently the key to curing HIV/AIDS? It's not entirely clear what the film is trying to say there with that particular message because it's such a muddled mess that it can't get it's messaging across. There is far more of the film dedicated to the Western Vs traditional medicine dichotomy than there is to the exploration of African heritage. The entire film is about it in fact when the latter is all of a collective fifteen or so minutes.
The first hour of Joseph is absolutely unnecessary. Nothing of relevance happens. No character development. No plot development. No theme development. Nothing. It could be cut out and the film would be no different. And it's this first hour - and then some to be honest - in which the most plot lines and characters that have nothing to do with anything, that don't support the story or theme, are present.
To add insult to injury, it's obvious that multiple scenes that should be in the film aren't but over an hour was dedicated to what amounts to little more than filler. It's missing necessary connective tissue.
The plot - if one can even call it that - doesn't even follow the basic idea of a plot being a cause and effect chain of events. Things just happen and then they're over. Plot elements that are introduced on-screen are resolved off-screen and a character comes in and tells you what happened to resolve it. Those obviously missing scenes I mentioned? That's one of the most blatant offenses of it.
THE essential rule of film that Joseph violates to a large degree is "show, don't tell." It's hardly much of anything but exposition. Even if the lower thirds indicate a passage of time a character will then come in and tell you have much time has passed immediately after.
It's also obvious that next to no research was done into the medical aspects of the film. It's the medical equivalent of techno-babble found in sci-fi films that have no interest in adhering to the idea of believability and plausibility. It's that bad. None of the doctors in this film (Joseph's entire family, mind you) sound like they're actually doctors. In fact, the first time we see his mother she is carrying on an entire conversation on her cellphone while tending to a patient. And that's the only time we ever see her working.
There's also a domestic violence joke thrown in. It was, needless to say, tasteless and crass.
The only actor with any talent was the man who played Joseph's father. The grandfather's actor was good as well but be had one scene. Kevoy Burton can make a living on The CW. The acting, overall, was bad to atrocious.
The sound design was terrible. The editing was as much of a catastrophic mess as the unfocused "plot." It at least didn't look like it was shot on a potato but the cinematography left a lot to be desired.
I would be surprised if this film doesn't exist just so the producers - and the cast really, especially the random uncle that materialised out of nowhere - could be paid to go to Ghana for the Year of Return. It's the only way this film's existence can be justified.
In my opinion, any good reviews you see about this film are just people liking the idea of what the film is supposed to be rather than what it actually is; people of African descent wanting to connect to the idea of rediscovering their heritage, something that this film barely pays lip service to.
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