Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Anel Alexander and Nico Panagio reprise their roles from the 2012 rom-com ‘Semi-Soet’, playing Jaci and JP once again. But this time, they’re already married and confused about having a baby.
‘Semi-Soeter’ opens with a chaotic scene of Jaci Basson and JP Basson babysitting the five children of their best friends, Hertjie (Louw Venter) and Karla (Sandra Vaughn). It sets the tone for the rest of the comedy, where the lead couple borrows their friends’ baby to win over a deal with a big baby-products brand. However, what if their competitors find out they aren’t the real parents of the child?
The best thing about ‘Semi-Soeter’ is the fun, laid-back cast, all of whom have an easy, relatable chemistry. Anel Alexander and Nico Panagio look great as the high-functioning, workaholic, ambitious corporate couple, too busy sealing million-dollar deals to think about expanding their family. The Bassons are wealthy and well-settled (at least their two swanky luxury cars indicate so), and don’t have much holding them back except their shared fear of children. As the plot progresses, both seem to waver in their opinions about the issue, even though they do not express this to each other.
Sandra Vaughn is hilariously endearing as Karla, the mom of five kids, more than happy to lend her baby to Jaci and JP so she can have a child-free weekend, with the rest of her older kids staying with their grandparents. For a comedy trying to convince its protagonists that becoming parents isn’t as hard as they think it to be, ‘Semi-Soeter’ sure doesn’t make it look easy either. Instead, parenting seems comically chaotic, messy, and something you’d want to steer clear of. Although the babies in the film are incredibly cute!
Hélène Truter plays Marietjie, the flamboyant owner of Ybab, the baby brand everybody is keen to win over. When the Bassons arrive at a corporate event where they’re supposed to compete with a few other companies for the Ybab contract, they find out their top rival is Joubert (Neels van Jaarsveld), JP’s college nemesis. Joubert is the comical villain of ‘Semi-Soeter’, married to Chadrie (Diaan Lawrenson), and they have three seemingly perfect kids. Ironically, they really do seem to have their children under better control than most. When Marietjie is impressed by the Bassons’ adorable (but fake) baby, Joubert takes it upon himself to expose the fraudster parents.
‘Semi-Soeter’ is a semi-funny film, formulaic and familiar, with potty jokes like chocolate sauce being served in nappies at the Ybab corporate event. It’s both gross and yet oddly plausible in the real world. I mean, there are plenty of toilet-themed restaurants serving poo-shaped food in miniature toilet bowls, so why not desserts-in-diapers, eh?
If watching an overachieving couple struggle through their dilemma over kids while they disastrously babysit and pretend to be parents for corporate goals sounds fun, give this a go.
Rating: 5.5 on 10. ‘Semi-Soeter’ is on Netflix.
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