For
two aging former models living in South Africa on their pensions, inflation is
way more depressing than liver spots. That assumes they can still access their
pension, but a sleazy fund manager has secretly raided small accounts like
theirs, to cover-up his other financial shenanigans (by the way, pensioners
suffers the exact same consequences when central banks engage in loose money
inflation, but you won’t find a lot of screenwriters out there who really
understand monetary policy). Regardless, Lulu Fredericks and Faith Moloi want
their money back, so they will steal it themselves in Thandi Brewer’s The Chemo Club (trailer here), which screens
during this year’s African Diaspora International Film Festival in New York.
In
the swinging sixties, Fredericks portrayed Tessa, the action sex-goddess in a
series of photo-designed comics books and Moloi was the model for the Pam
Grier-esque “Her.” Those were the days. Currently, Moloi works part-time
sweeping floors at the hospital where Fredericks just received her fatal cancer
diagnosis. Fredericks wants to live out her remaining six months in style, but
her pension has mysteriously vanished. Same for Moloi, who is the sole support
of her unemployed daughter and entitled grandchildren.
Obviously,
Grant Roberts, the odious public face of Trusted Corp is up to no good, but
nobody seems to care. Therefore, the only logical course of action is to knock
over the joint. Somehow, the brassy Fredericks convinces the more passive Moloi
to go along with her scheme. Fanboy Sivu will go along with the caper for the sake
of his pop culture thesis. They will also recruit their former photographer and
lover, Gerhard, because they obviously need an eighty-year-old with a monocle.
Periodically, we watch their comic book alter ego battling villainy, in ways
that parallel their ebbing fortunes.
Clearly,
Chemo Club is heavily derived from Going in Style and the pre-Kate & Allie Jane Curtain-Susan
Saint James vehicle How to Beat the High
Cost of Living, which is still the much funnier film, even though it has at
least one joke that would cause apoplexy in the current climate. In contrast, Chemo Club is a tame comedy about oldsters
doing it for themselves, which barely registers more edge than the embarrassingly
slapsticky Love Punch.
Still,
Brümilda van Rensburg, the Grand Dame of South African television, has plenty
of regal presence as Fredericks. However, she does not develop much chemistry
with either Lilian Dube’s Moloi or Tobie Cronje’s Gerhard. At times, Cronje is
almost criminally shticky, but Rea Rangaka is probably an even worse offender
as Sivu. Yet, somehow Shoki Mokgapa maintains her dignity as Roberts’ innocent
assistant, whom Sivu crushes on hard.
It
is interesting to see unpretentious popular cinema from other countries, but Chemo Club just doesn’t travel that well
(unlike energetically likable South African exports, like Hear Me Move and White Wedding). The comedy is about as broad as it gets and caper fans will feel
short-changed by the lack of tick-tock caper details. Best saved for unfussy fans
of Marigold Hotels, The Chemo Club screens
this Sunday (11/26) and Monday (11/27) at Teachers College, Columbia, as part
of the 2017 ADIFF.
