Andrea van Wyk
Evangelist Angus Buchan has become a well-known figure in SA with his Mighty Men conferences, which have drawn hundreds of thousands of “disempowered” men to his farm in the Midlands over the past few years.
Most of them are struggling with the same questions: “What is my purpose in life?”, “Where do I belong?”, “What will fill the ‘emptiness’ inside?”, and Buchan gives them the answer: God.
Buchan’s life story was captured on film in the 2006 biopic Faith Like Potatoes, while Ordinary People is the true story of three “typical” South African men and their journey to the 2009 conference to fill the Jesus-shaped holes in their hearts.
André Cloete (Jaco Muller) is a young man in his twenties whose life is dedicated to binge-drinking and excessive partying, resulting in him crashing numerous cars, though it’s not made clear whether this endless supply of vehicles is coming from his ultra-religious father, since André doesn't hold a job. He blames his strict upbringing and his father’s constant reminder that he is a gross disappointment for his problems.
Next, there is John Peters (Anton Dekker), a middle-aged panel-beater and Harley Davidson biker, who is drawn into the abyss following the death of his son. Once again, alcohol is the refuge of choice.
The final “ordinary” man in this saga is Lucky Nzimande (Lucky Koza) – a young hijacker and robber who attempts to hijack former special forces policeman Herman Visser’s car while the latter is on his way to the conference. Lucky is handcuffed to the back seat of Visser’s bakkie and dragged along to the event.
The three main characters are meant to be representative of average South African men, but while they may seem so on paper, I failed to connect with them on screen. In part, this is because the acting seems forced. It feels as if the actors merely memorised their lines before reciting them as if they were in a bad school play. Even though the characters are meant to be based on reality, they are nothing less than weak and unconvincing, paper cutouts of the “real” people they are meant to play.
One example is a scene in which John’s wife gives him the invitation to the Mighty Men conference, saying she believes it will help him deal with his son’s death. John is clearly overcome, but what should be a touching moment has the emotional punch of a ’90s photo story complete with speech bubbles.
It is mystifying why the producers of this film think it belongs on the big screen. The cinematography is as bad as the acting, which is as bad as the script. While it is notoriously difficult to get funding for local films, many have in recent times succeeded in creating productions with slick camera work. There is no evidence of that in Ordinary People. This may be because director FC Hamman, who has done work for the BBC and National Geographic, has in recent years immersed himself in low-budget Christian films. His CV lists clients such as Billy Graham, Michael W Smith and Campus Crusade for Christ.
Although religion, like politics, is always contentious at best, it is not the subject matter of Ordinary People that makes it a dreary film but the way it is treated. There are many examples of films about how people find meaning in the spiritual: Seven Years In Tibet and Higher Ground, to name but two. Whether they were critically acclaimed or successful at the box office is of no consequence. These films did not attempt to preach but to enlighten. Ordinary People, on the other hand, is a tool Angus Buchan wants to use to convert people, specifically men.
The film belongs in a church bookshop or on a religious television channel at best.