Jit

If The Harder They Come was a tough-nosed bus ride around Kingston, Jamaica, Raeburn's romp is a comedic scooter tour of Harare, Zimbabwe, to the lively jump of Jit music. Both are ready-made tales of poor country boys in the big bad city. The main character here, UK, is an orthodontic wonder, whose only collateral (besides his teeth) is a combination of optimism and charm. He takes to following around Sofi (Nene), the local stunner, who thinks he must be kidding, and who, to add injury to insult, has a gangster boyfriend who agrees. Undeterred, UK approaches Sofi's dad for her hand, and the venal old sod suggests a wedding price of a radio-gramophone and $500 to see what happens. What happens is that the boy chases around Harare like Pee-Wee Herman on speed to earn the money, dogged at every step by the twin forces of his village 'Jukwa' (a wizened old village 'spirit' with magic powers and an alcohol problem), and the gangster's stitched-faced cronies. It's Zimbabwe's first feature, a bit of a tourist trip, with lots of musical entertainment thrown in.