''Taxi Driver: Oko Ashewo'', also known as just ''Taxi Driver'' or ''Oko Ashewo'', is a 2015 Nigerian

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

produced by Ayobami Macaulay and directed by Daniel Oriahi. It stars

Odunlade Adekola Odunlade Jonathan Adekola (; born 31 December 1976) is a Nigerian actor, film-maker, film producer and film director. He gained popularity and was widely known for his lead role in Ishola Durojaye's 2003 movie, ''Asiri Gomina Wa'', and has act ...

Femi Jacobs Femi Jacobs (born Oluwafemisola Jacobs; 8 May) is a Nigerian actor, speaker, and singer. He came into prominence for playing Makinde Esho in the film '' The Meeting'', which also stars Rita Dominic and Jide Kosoko. For his role in ''The Mee ...

, Ijeoma Grace Agu and Hafeez Oyetoro.

Plot

''Taxi Driver'' is a film centred on working in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

at night, as a taxi driver. It narrates the story of Adigun (Femi Jacobs), a 31-year-old naive village mechanic who comes to Lagos for the first time after the sudden death of his estranged father, who was a taxi driver. Taiwo (Odunlade Adekola), his father’s fellow taxi driver, helps Adigun to navigate Lagos and get accustomed to the streets. Adigun has to cope with dealing with the odd people he comes across working at night; from Delia (Grace Ijeoma Agu), a prostitute, to Kakanfo (Hafeez Oyetoro), the unseen vigilante, and to the notorious assassins called "three wise men".

Cast

as Adigun *

as Taiwo *

Ijeoma Grace Agu Ijeoma Grace Agu is a Nigerian actress. She hails from the South - Eastern part of Nigeria and was born to Igbo Parents She received a best supporting actress nomination at the 12th Africa Movie Academy Awards. She also won most promising actr ...

as Delia *Richard Akinladen as Kuku *Babajide Alimison as Tiny *

Afeez Oyetoro Afeez Oyetoro (born 20 August 1963) is a Nigerian comedian, theatre actor and artist popularly known as "Saka". His parents had eight children, of whom he is the fifth. He is currently married and has three children. He is also a lecturer of th ...

as Kakanfo *

Toyin Oshinaike Toyin Oshinaike is a renowned Nigerian thespian and director, notable for his work in stage, film, and television. Early life and career Oshinaike started his professional acting career in the early 1990s after initially working in the banking s ...

as Baba mistura * Kelechi Udegbe as Bashar

Production

The director, Oriahi, stated: "''Taxi Driver: Oko Ashewo'' is a personal journal of my admiration for

Lagos Island Lagos Island () is the principal and central Local government areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos, Nigeria. It was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian ce ...

and its popular streets, from Igbosere road to Broad street, CMS, Obalende and vibrancy of its people. I relied on own my experiences as a foreigner to Lagos to influence my approach in telling this story of a man’s journey in search of purpose".

Release

The first teaser trailer for ''Oko Ashewo'' was released on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on 16 October 2015, while the official trailer was released a week after, on 23 October. It was generally released on 13 November 2015. ''Oko Ashewo'' became an instant box office hit, breaking records to become the highest opening weekend gross for the year at the time of its release. It battled the film ''

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writt ...

'' for the top spot in its first week of release. It grossed over ₦20 million at the cinemas, making it the third highest grossing Nigerian film of 2015, behind '' Road to Yesterday'' and '' Fifty''.

Reception

Oris Aigbokhaevbolo on ''

BellaNaija ''BellaNaija'' is a Nigerian lifestyle, entertainment, and fashion website headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. History BellaNaija was founded by Uche Eze in 2006. In its early form, BellaNaija featured scanned magazine articles, pictures, and in ...

'', although faults the narrative as a misrepresentation of Lagos, he commended the film for the authenticity of the dialogue, the cinematography, and the appropriate representation of the Nigerian

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

without patronizing. He concluded: "''Taxi Driver'' is gripping and moves briskly as a film set in a Lagos vehicle should. But an expositional scene intended to give the lead female character a back story deadens the momentum. It recovers and heads towards mayhem and several twists in a key scene. At that point you may think Taxi Driver is headed for tragedy. It doesn’t and that is the film’s tragedy. ..His riahi'sneed to crowd-please wins over the film’s edginess in his story". Kemi Filani commended the film's sound design, cinematography and the general production quality. She also praised the characterization, and the actors' performances, but condemned the concluding part of the film, describing it as "confusing". ''Modern Ghana'' praised the actors' performances, soundtrack, cinematography and set design, concluding:"What sets ''TAXI DRIVER: Oko Ashawo'' from other movies, is it realism and that it showcases to its viewers, entertaining them while educating them as well. The comic relief is very well timed and you will definitely be glad to have spent your time and money watching it". Tola Williams of ''True Nollywood Stories'' commended the cinematography and Agu's performance as the prostitute, but criticized the plot of the film, stating: "''Taxi Driver'', AKA ''Oko Ashawo'', AKA Film With Little Story & Plenty Gunshots".

References

External links

* *{{YouTube, OXgO0Ed3U9Q, ''Taxi Driver: Oko Ashewo'' trailer 2015 black comedy films 2010s comedy thriller films 2015 fantasy films 2010s road movies Nigerian comedy films Nigerian thriller films Films about taxis Films shot in Lagos Films set in Lagos Yoruba-language films Films about prostitution Nigerian supernatural films Nigerian fantasy films Nigerian road movies Works about prostitution in Nigeria