Memories, is a noteworthy movie that comes from Jeethu Joseph who previously gave us the mediocre yet entertaining My Boss, Mummy & Me and Detective. It was quite unexpected for me that he's come up with a movie with such a gripping and entertaining plot. I mean I knew he had skills, evident from his other movies, but Memories turned out to be quite a welcome change from his recent flicks.
Memories uncannily stands out among the recent hyped releases from Ranjith, Lal Jose and Samir Thahir, and with good reason. The lesser you know about Memories the better experience it'd be. Though in a nutshell, it's about a tragedy-stricken, alcoholic police officer named Sam Alex who's shoved into investigating a series of murder cases. The first half of the movie effectively portrays how much distress Sam was in and in the second act the narrative smoothly slides into the investigative mode.
Its been marketed as a psychological thriller, it is definitely a thriller but hardly psychological (an exception being the main antagonist). The pacing was at its finest in Memories allocating equal time for character development and, in its second half, where it transitions into a good thriller. And among all that, there was barely a boring scene anywhere which keeps things intriguing. The second half was more akin to a true whodunnit mystery which keeps you guessing till its revelation in the finale.
Despite the quasi-star-studded cast of the movie, the sole spotlight was on Prithviraj and he effortlessly handled his role of Alex. I wouldn't say its his best performance till date, thats still set aside to his performance as J C Daniel in Celluloid. Commendable performances from Vijayaraghavan, Suresh Krishna kept things flowing. Brownie points for the antagonist which I have no intention of revealing here. (Thank me! :P)
Memories doesn't have the best cinematography or the finest score and the cg was silly and unnecessary but what it lacks there, it more than makes up for, in its intriguing narrative and direction. Its a promising thriller from director Jeethu Joseph which comes off as a plain thriller with no frills attached that never goes over-the-top neither does it fail to entertain you at any point. Watch this one at the big screen and before someone spoils it for you.
