As there is a dearth of film reviews of African films, particularly sentimental romantic dramas, and I have nothing else to do, here’s my take on My Loving Heart by Great Star Production of Nollywood (Nigerian) fame.  Written, directed by and starring Tchidi Chikere.

A brief synopsis:

Boy, Bob, is dying.  Boy meets girl, Angela.  Girl finds out boy is dying.  Girl gets mad.  Girl tries to steal boys money.  Girl walks out.  Boy has heart transplant.  Boy is no longer dying.  Girl comes back.  Boy meets other girl, Breena. Girl is widow of transplanted heart original owner.  Boy and Girl fall in love.  You know, standard.

Interesting themes:

Power of the supernatural, ghosts, love: One of the central themes in the film is that a heart transplant actually transplants more than just an organ, it transplants the essence of “Ken,” the hearts original owner.  “Ken” also appears to his former widow, Breeana in a few dreams, one of which results in a broken picture of the two of them.   The heart is also supernatural and knows when Breeana, the widow, is around, communicating this by beating quickly.  This turns into a bit of “old meets new” as the final couple sit over a laptop (hp, product placement) looking up why ghosts would move things, drawing on biblical passages, with Bob coming to the conclusion that his transplanted heart is trying to hook them up.

The good and faithful versus the conniving scheming woman: This theme is why I usually can’t stand African movies.  Period.  All of them have some shrill harpie screaming at the leading man who is strong and stoic enough to hold back his hand as he goes to slap her.  Ok, not all of them.  But a lot of movies have a similar scene.  Angela in this film is no different, with her schemes to take advantage of dying Bob, asking for 80% of his money when he dies (before the transplant).  But Breeana refuses to listen to her own rapidly beating heart when she meets her husbands heart in a new form, so committed she is to his memory.

Bob seems a bit quick on the rebound but is all about ending up with Breeana as their “hearts have found each other.”

Didn’t get enough of Bob and Breeana’s joint loving hearts? They made a sequel.  But unfortunately my review was cut off due to an unscheduled change of channels by the hotel staff.