Heart of Men: Ghana exudes passion on screen (2025)

Director Frank Rajah Arase and producer Alhaji Abdul Salam Mumuni really step up their game in this film from Heroes Productions titled The Heart of Men. Despite not being a Venus Productions project and displaying the distinct A Venus Film Production symbol before opening credits, the movie boasts many actors representing the ‘VFP’ house and staple, while HoM itself features many plot twists, exceptional casting, and some pretty entertaining scenes mimicking coitus. If there’s one thing this movie isn’t short on, its star power. Having assembled probably the most popular actors working in Ghana today, Abdul Salam Mumuni and Frank Rajah have gone above and beyond this time with a cast that includes names like Prince David Osei (Prince Dave Osei on Facebook), Kofi Adjorlolo, Jackie Appiah, John Dumelo, Yvonne Nelson, Martha Ankomah, Nadia Buari and Majid Michel.

Heart of Men is a dynamic film driven by sound, sight and wonderfully colored character performances. The music provided by Okyeame Qouphi and Afra Marley are some of the most interesting and engaging musical accompaniments I’ve ever heard (or seen) in any African movie today. With this being said, you really get a gist of how it all works when Tracy (Yvonne Nelson) steps out of a bathroom wearing nothing but a white towel that says AIRPORT WEST HOTEL written vertically across one end. The music cues, and one of what is several slow-motion sequences throughout the course of the film begins to take place.

Heart of Men isn’t without its fair share of mishaps, but these things could be overshadowed. The film is far more entertaining than realistic. So, have what you may, let’s now look at some of the cons.

SPOILERS

• The police discover a young woman’s body near the side of a road recognizedby Richie (Majid Michael) as Tracy. It is then shown to the viewer later that the body found wasn’t Tracy’s, but someone misidentified. No information is ever provided aboutwho or where the misidentified body ever came from. Then later on, Tracy and Richie plan their wedding, where pretty much everyone knows of it andinvited. So the question here is, how can someone marry a dead woman who was never even divorced from her first husband, which in this case is Kay (John Dumelo)?
• In the beginning of the film, Richie Adams isa prominent attorney whose entire career is practically owed to his best friend Kay, who provided both the emotional and needed financial support for him to become a lawyer. Later, Richie Adams is still described as being a barrister, but also a renowned bachelor, a two-timing heart breaker and a successfully popular porn star around town. No information is ever given abouthow or why Richie becomes a porn star, other than that he is known for impregnating many women, two of which are his nieces and are sisters, having them getdilation and curettage operationsevery time he discovers “their” pregnancies.
• Why didn’t Richie get with Tracy before her meeting Kay, which led to their eventual marriage?
• One thing clear,is several of the actors at one point or another look directly into the camera. The first occurrence happens with the police officer who questions Richie about the presumed and misidentified body of Tracy. The second involves another officer who takes a personal liking to the adult film career of Richie Adams and tells him specifically that he has learned many things from watching his movies. And finally, the last and most obvious case of this cinematic faux pas comes when Yvonne Nelson “herself” looks directly into the camera during the dance club scene (featuring music by Samini) and waves, as if she completely forgot that the movie was still being filmed as opposed to a music video. lol
• This last one isn’t really a con, but simply an observation. I’ve noticed this in a few of his movies of late, and it’s that Majid Michel’s hair is beginning to whiten and thin, similar to the very talented and seasoned Nigerian bred actor Ramsey Nouah. Something like this isused to an actor’s benefit, particularly actors of a certain age, as their physical appearance can now be perceived as an asset and used to take on more challenging and demanding roles.

The highlight of the movie are itsscenes of full-on mimicry and impersonation of coital acts. They’re pretty fun to watch! Yvonne Nelson literally frightens poor Majid Michael (who comes off as “fresh meat”) as she goes for a piece of his huge nose, and puts Mr. Michel at a complete loss. He quickly flinches his head back and away from this “mad” woman, only to realize that it’s not hunger but passion that’s her ambition. It is then that she is now able to ever so softly, sensitively caress the sides of his face and carry out her sensuous goal of taking the most satisfying bite of his fine and delish nose, that lands her within her desired rapture.

If this scene I described between Yvonne Nelson and Majid Michael could be regarded as being hot, then the scene following it between Majid Michel and Jackie Appiah could be described as being steaming red. Jackie Appiah and Majid Michael have a working history together before Heart of Men having both made their film début in Divine Love and having been seen starring witheach other in Passion of the Soul and Tears of Womanhood; they also were once opposing forces in Her Excellency. So one can imagine how comfortable their on-screen relationship is (transmitting movie chemistry), especially on a film like Heart of Men. I’m not actually sure if it’s Majid Michel or Jackie Appiah who commit the cinematic non-crime of “realness”, during the close-up of one of the slo-mo sequences, they seem so engaged in liplock and osculation, there’s actually an exchange of lingua that takes place between them.

One great scene has Richie singing the lyrics aloud to TLC’s “The Scrub is Mine” (remix) along with Tracy, Whitney (Jackie Appiah) and Alici (Luckie E Lawson); Alici being one of Tracy’s bridesmaids. The scene is significant for two reasons. One being that they’re all out shopping for Tracy’s wedding gown, and two being that, although Whitney is Tracy’s maid of honor, it’s pretty hard to distinguish whether or not anyone’s aware ofwho’s sleeping with who.

Prince David Osei plays the character of Ray, Richie’s best man, who seems to have it in for the fact that Richie never tends to faceany serious repercussions though he lives his life as a frolicking lothario. Martha Ankomah plays the role of Diana, one of many who, having met the Don Juan, sufferedrapeby Richie at 12, lost her virginity in the process, had three abortions, and now barren. Jackie Appiah must really be commended here for having taken on not one, but two roles, playing the role of both Whitney and Adline, Yvonne (Anita Kuma) and Whitney’s mother.

In closing, I highly recommend buying the DVD version (original) of this movie. Heart of Men is pretty entertaining and features some cool character performances from Ghana’s best!

Score: 4 of 4 Ghanaian flags

http://www.heartofmenmovie.com/