(Themba
Ntuli & Leon Schuster. Pic by Dehan Janse van Rensburg)
Strap in and hold on tight to your seats,
because funny man Leon Schuster is back with a brand new quirky comedy complete
with hilarious incidents and an inspiring storyline that will keep audiences
captivated until the credits start rolling.
In true Schuster fashion, Frank & Fearless follows the winning
recipe of side-splitting comedy and humorous social commentary of Leon’s
previous successes like There’s a Zulu on
my Stoep and Mr Bones, but
together with co-writer director Gray Hofmeyr, takes it to the next level by
introducing a relevant and engrossing story and a depth of emotion which sets
it apart from anything else previously produced by this iconic filmmaker.
“Frank
& Fearless was an extremely difficult movie to make, and the script by
Gray, myself and Geoff Newton, was developed over a period of four years. Gray
and I worked together for the first time on Sweet
and Short in 1991, and have made nine movies together since then. We are
old Troopers, and the one without the other is like a soldier going into battle
without his rifle. We are confident that this latest offering tops all our
previous efforts, and that the kids of this world and their moms and dads will
be engrossed by this film,” explains Leon, whose films are some of the
highest-grossing local productions with impressive international sales.
Set in Africa, the movie takes viewers on a
thrilling adventure as a lovable old man, Sonny Frank (Leon Schuster), and a
ten year-old rural African boy, Fearless (Themba Ntuli), set out to kidnap the
ambassador of a South-East Asian country in an attempt to stop rhino slaughter.
They are joined on this mission by two four-legged friends; Reini a baby rhino
whose mother was killed by poachers and Fearless’s big and faithful black dog
called Dog. When things go terribly wrong, they have no choice but to take on a
platoon of merciless poachers, who are led by the terrifying ranger-turned
poacher, Dolf (Kenneth Nkosi), with whom Sonny has a past. The emotional heart,
of course, stems from the characters’ individual journeys.
“Setting a comedy in a milieu as tragic as
the rhino crisis was a controversial decision. However, I believe that comedy
and tragedy can run seamlessly side by side, complementing each other and
enhancing the emotional roller coaster ride, provided the performances and the
story are 100% honest,” says scriptwriter and director Gray Hofmeyr, who has
not only been in the industry for decades, but has also won numerous awards for
his work.
Aside from brilliant cinematography and the
most beautiful surroundings, the movie also boasts impressive performances by
the star-studded cast. Leon Schuster is brilliant as an insecure railway chef
and collector of indigenous spices, while newcomer, Themba Ntuli (Meerkat Maantuig), nails his role as a
complex African child who is terrified of his own shadow. Kenneth Nkosi (Tsotsi), Khanyi Mbau (Happiness is a Four Letter Word),
Jennifer Steyn (Goodbye Bafana, Madam and
Eve) and David Dennis (Soul City)
can also be seen in the film.
Frank
& Fearless promises some incredibly funny
laughs combined with a powerful message and some heartfelt personal revelations
that audiences of all ages will be able to relate to. The film was produced by
André Scholtz and Menzi Thabede in association with M-Net, Chrome Films the IDC
and the DTI and will be distributed and released by Filmfinity (Pty) Ltd on November
23, 2018.
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