A Good Man in Africa (1994) User Reviews (16)

so much wasted potential

[Africanist · 6/10 · 17 November 2003]

Don't be fooled by the "East Africa" disclaimer. This is about Nigeria, specifically Lagos at the time of the oil boom, when it was the capital. Although many names have been changed, the Yoruba thunder god, Shango, is not, nor are some of the others.

There was so much humor possible in that time and place (you had to laugh just to keep from crying sometimes) that of course some of it found its way into the film. The author never understood what was happening, so of course he missed a lot, but then he made the very ignorance of the British one of the butts of his humor. God I love British humor, I envy them for it and I'm grateful to them for giving us Chaplin, Bob Hope, and so many others. But I digress. And this film is not on the level of Chaplin or Hope. I was disappointed.

The biggest disappointment was watching great talents like Sean Connery, Diana Rigg and Lou Gossett sleepwalking through their roles on their way to a paycheck. They could have done better.

Decent, but it had greater potential.

[easternmoviecritic · 5/10 · 6 August 2009]

A Good Man in Africa is a parody of Africa. The action takes place in an imaginary African country, Kinjaja. The movie centres around Morgan Leafy, a British diplomat and a gigolo who wants countless damsels. Morgan isn't a memorable character, he can't be a role model, but the character does develop throughout the movie.

One flaw of the movie is false advertisement. On the DVD cover we see Sean Connery in the front plan, on another DVD cover we don't even see Morgan. Even the description doesn't mention Morgan; this is made to make us believe that Sean Connery plays a major role, but he doesn't. He plays a white doctor, Alex Murray, a doctor at the local hospital. Needless to say, Connery is the best actor in the movie. He's there only for about 10 minutes in total. And yet he has a major role? Very cheap strategy.

A Good Man in Africa has light, subtle humour, it may not be funny, but it's original. As I've said before, it's a parody of Africa, politics in Africa, the African man himself and the white man trying to fit in. Mildly racist, mildly funny, overall - decent.

Final Score: 2.5/5 or 5/10

Connery Has His Work Cut Out Here

[slightlymad22 · 4/10 · 5 June 2017]

Continuing my plan to watch every Sean Connery movie in order, I come to A Good Man In Africa (1994)

Plot In A Paragraph: In a fictional African town, British diplomat Morgan Leafy (Colin Friels) is caught in bed with Celia (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), wife of corrupt Kinjanjan presidential candidate Sam Adekunle (Louis Gossett Jr.). As punishment, Leafy is forced into bribing an official who has voted down a project that stands to make Adekunle very rich. Leafy thinks he's gotten off easy until he learns the lone holdout is none other than Kinjanja's own brick wall of integrity, Dr. Alex Murray (Connery).

Despite a great cast, this is awful. Even the great John Lithgow (whom I love) is poor her, and Connery who has saved some awful movies, has his work cut out here.

A Good Man In Africa flopped at the box office, grossing only $2 million

Surprisingly humorous and entertaining, yet uneven, satire from Beresford.

[mkf-4 · 1 October 2000]

A very much lighter and more humorous version of "The Ugly American", this film spotlights the misadventures of a naive and utterly clueless diplomat as he attempts to assume the role of foreign diplomat in an unnamed African country. The lead character is vacuously played by no one that most audiences would recognize, or remember for that matter. I found myself hoping to see Sam Neill come creeping up in the next scene. Brilliant performances by Diana Rigg, Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and Sean Connery, along with several other known and unknown actors, provided intriguing counterpoint and kept me watching. As with any good satire, I was enticed to confront many assumptions, beliefs and contradictory feelings. There is much original humour and more than a few tributes to revered filmography - enough to keep me laughing, smiling and/or trying to remember what movie was being referred to, for most of the movie. Comedy/satire may not be Beresford's best long suit, but I'll take this over just about any Hollywood comedy movie I've seen in quite some time.

A waste of time

[pkotta · 2/10 · 14 January 2000]

A good example of a movie in search of a plot. What started out as an interesting premise (after all, how many movies being released are set in Africa?) becomes intolerably ridiculous with the use of an insulting (to Africans) plot device about a dead body that the locals insist cannot be moved out of fear of offending a local deity. Good actors, lousy film.

Carry On Arica- with less sex and less humor

[HEFILM · 2/10 · 2 April 2020]

Pretty much a disaster, the kind of film that knocked the director's status down a number of pegs. He has no feel and can't set the right tone for this comedy.

The way is was sold it was hard to even understand it was supposed to be a comedy, maybe they tried to sell it that way because it's not funny.

This really reminds me of that series of Carry On films from England--you can look those up to see what I'm talking about. And don't get me wrong I don't find most of those funny either, but they are funnier than this.

I was frankly shocked that this is really what much of this film's script is about. A bedroom comedy of manners farce is how it's played anyway complete with one really distasteful scene with an African woman running around bugging out her eyes like Mantan Moreland was her acting coach.

Friels and Lithgow are bad, Friels has no real comic timing and Lithgow with his fake accent and slightly over the top--but not enough to be funny-style ruin any chance of this low brow quasi sex comedy could have had. And does a guy running around "comically" thinking he's got VD and having to turn down hot women really belong in what could be a social commentary comedy in Africa anyway?

Connery and Rigg come off better than the rest of the cast, perhaps in part because they aren't around for much of it. Connery must have wanted to go play golf and be well paid to do so. He easily has some of the few, or only, good dialogue in the film. I watched it, in part, because I thought how bad could this possibly be? Well the answer is pretty damn bad. Gossett makes no impression and isn't convincing, Whaley Kilmer has little to do and does it blandly. Some attractive supporting female actors at least look attractive but exist for no other reason.

Awful attempts a slapstick humor pop up including an extended running around in a ridiculous Santa suit. The word desperate comes to mind.

Anything the book or script might have to say about Africa and political corruption are lost amid the failed comedy of saggy naked old lady and dead body in the street humor. Yup, that's what I said and I'm not making this up.

In the middle of a "comedic" golf playing montage a dreadful song with the lyrics "Good Man in Africa" plays. There is almost no end to the out of date not funny in the first place "gags" this movie will attempt and fail at. Almost a text book example of how not to do any or all of the above.

An actual comedian in the lead and an actual director who can do comedy would have helped, or maybe it all worked better as a book.

This is a Hollywood Turkey in Africa.

An interesting outlook, but ultimately fails to impress.

[shanfloyd · 5/10 · 25 June 2006]

A quite interesting comedy about the British aristocrats in a newly-independent country of Africa. Colin Friels does a very decent job as the Mr. Leafy, the first secretary of British High Comissioner. So does Sean Connery. The screenplay has a very smart satirical flavor in it with fine sense of humor regarding royal formalities, sexual clichés and even venereal diseases.

But the main problem of the movie is perhaps its ending. The ending is quite abrupt and the scene thereafter is surprisingly mundane. In fact, I don't get the idea behind all that stuff. I haven't read the original novel but seems like now I want to check it out.

Farcical

[JB-130 · 7/10 · 24 February 2000]

I have never read a William Boyd book but after having seen this movie, I have a mind to look out for them. A Good Man in Africa felt pretty much how I imagined a Tom Sharpe novel would appear on screen, farcical, riotous, uproarious and hilarious. Except there was something important missing in the film. There were a some very good scenes which showed up the farce to excellent effect. The unfortunate intervention of a tropical disease into the evening's entertainment, the unequal game of golf, the fitting for the Santa outfit, the corpse removal, the shower scene, the flight from disgruntled locals are just some examples of the farce. Friels' diplomat is at the heart of each embarrassment and he is charming in a very understated way, but he seems as bemused by his role as he is by events that unfurl around him.

Friels' supporting cast is also pretty mixed, John Lithgow, Diana Rigg and Sean Connery are amongst the best and they seem to have more fun than Friels does in his role and this is not just because Friels is hard done by as the 'put-upon' embassy attache. The belly laughs expected of a good farce do not materialise although there is plenty to chuckle about and think on. However, for the chuckles alone the film is well worth seeing, now let us see how the book compares.

Fun Film, Sean Connery what more do you want?

[MuggySphere · 5/10 · 29 December 2002]

Well I just finished watching this movie and all I can say is that I had a fun time. It's not your average kind of movie either. Not sure if they had intended it to be a funny movie but this movie does have some genuinely funny moments.

Also it has Sean Connery which I found rather surprising and being a Connery fan I stuck with the film to the end and it was well worth it.

A Definite 6/10 from me.

Our man in Africa

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 3 May 2006]

Morgan Leafy is a secretary to the British High Commissioner to an Africa nation. Leafy is a man that makes himself useful to his boss, the snobbish Arthur Fanshawe, who has no clue about what's going on around him, but who wants to use his secretary to carry on his dirty work, which involves getting one of the most powerful men in the country to do business with his country.

The young secretary has an eye for beautiful women around him, especially Hazel, a native beauty, with whom he is having an affair. Things get complicated because Sam Adekunle, a man running for president of the country, wants a favor from Leafy in return after he has accepted the invitation to visit London. The proposition involves swaying a prominent doctor's opposition to a plan that will make Adenkule filthy rich.

Things are complicated as a duchess will come for a visit and one of the maids at the Commissioner's residence has been struck by lightning and her body can't be moved because of the natives' belief that Shango, the god of thunder was instrumental in what happened to the woman. A native ritual must be performed and the body can't be moved. Leafy is made to deal with the situation that brings more complications and funny situations.

Bruce Beresford has directed this funny movie with sure hand. The novel by William Boyd, which we have not read, was adapted by its author into one a funny satire that looks at the role of English politics in a corrupt country in Africa.

Colin Friels is the best thing in the movie. As Morgan Leafy, he is at the center of everything. Mr. Friels is the basic reason for watching this comedy. Sean Connery plays Dr. Murray with an economy that makes his character one of the best things he has done lately. John Lithgow plays Arthur Fanshawe with great panache, making the High Commissioner a ridiculous man. Diana Rigg, Joanne Whalley, Lou Gossett Jr. and the rest of the cast do good work for the director.

"A Good Man in Africa" is a fun film to watch.

Really bad.

[jessethomas-171-912647 · 2/10 · 23 April 2020]

So many racist and outdated tropes in this film. A big mess.

Cheeky Leafy.

[DukeEman · 8/10 · 14 April 1999]

The bawdy adventures of Mr. Leafy, a British diplomat caught up in all sorts of trouble in an African country. Very tongue-in-cheek. Overlooked and underrated on its initial release.

Missable

[Rumples · 6/10 · 4 February 1999]

This movie was tolerable - I sat through it all, but it wouldn't have been missed at all if I'd never seen it. The antics of the British High Commission are almost (but not quite) laughable, and the Poms must have been a bit miffed that their embassy was mainly staffed by Aussies and Yanks with weak accents. In any case, the idea definitely held promise, it just didn't eventuate. Fortunately it was only 90 mins. long. Sean Connery puts in a tolerable performance but all too little, too late for this film. Even the lovely Joanne Whalley doesn't help. In all, don't bother, but if you must, there are worse things you could do.

light humour about incompetence and corruption in Africa

[rugbysharks · 4 August 2001]

This film was on late night, mid week BBC television ,last week and I found it fairly easy going in general. It wasn't complicated at all although in some ways it attempted to be so due to the sex subplots involving British diplomat Colin Friels (who also bears a passing resemblance to Ewan MacGregor strangely enough). Those subplots of course came second to the themes of corruption, incompetence and confusion which I have to say reign supreme in Africa. The seemingly intelligent, progressive leader is actually corrupt to the core and is well played by Louis Gossett I thought.

The film also took a somewhat farcical view of African culture and politics which is completely over exagerrated but funny nonetheless. For example, the names and words of certain things amused me, like 'newly independent' Kinjanja for example. The local currency was the 'jan-jan' (?), the capital city was unpronouncable, and the locals believe in a god of thunder called 'Shango' which in a way becomes the driving force of the plot and causes our hero Friels all sorts of amusing moments. If struck by lightning, the victim also had to be 'cleansed' by a 'ju-ju' man??!!! True, the locals are portrayed as simple, god fearing, useless idiots which is something of a Euro-stereotype of Africans in general it has to be said. But the British diplomats, played by Friels and Lithgow, are also given rough treatment......they bend over backwards for a corrupt leader, can't deal with local politics, are xenophobic and bumblingly incompetent. But from these situations I did draw a certain degree of amusement, if only due to the fact that I lived in southern africa for over ten years and some of the stereotypes and mishaps were classic Africa.

Some good looking female actors also help the film along although the likes of Diana Rigg are under-used. Connery puts in a forgetful performance but both Friels and Lithgow are entertaining. The sticky atmosphere also comes through as does the general hurly burly life of a foreign diplomat in Africa..........I'll give it 6.5/10, easy going and good for a few laughs.

A good book in Africa

[shell-26 · 6/10 · 1 March 2000]

William Boyd is a good writer and verges on greatness at times but this film seems to suffer from too much money and talent, but not enough effort.

The book is funny. The naive Englishman Mr. Leafy tries to navigate through African politics and colonial interests. There are some interesting sexual subplots and classic scenes of trousers down British farce but the film loses all the subtlety and parody.

Sean Connery appears. He has a supporting role which threatens to overbalance the film, he stops the plot in its tracks.

Write William Write ! If I catch you behind a camera again, I'll pull out the plug and sit you down behind a typewriter until you come up with something as great as The New Confessions.

A good farce...

[aka_writer · 10/10 · 4 January 2004]

Well this movie is made to be joke and from the very beginning to the end, so it was. It is a good farce, shallow characters, obvious protogonist and antagonist and the man who learns what is right... I think it was pretty good and funny...