TreeFiddy53

Fans of (Spanish) noir-thrillers/heist films, you know you've got to watch a film if Ricardo Darin is in it. In this one, he plays a epileptic taxidermist leading a boring life and has a dream. He unexpectedly ends up on a hunting trip and gets an opportunity to do what he's always dreamt of - to commit the perfect crime, but he's never done anything like this in his life and things begin to turn south real soon.

This 2005 film is a slow-burn and if you're used to the high-paced films from the recent past, the slow pacing will test your patience and make you feel like this 2h14m film is more like 2h45m. That kept aside, you can't predict where this is going and you're in for a 'cerebral' movie.

One of the most highly praised Mollywood films of the year so far is finally out on streaming. I learned that Shahi Kabir, the director of this film, was police officer in the past. Checks out, his writing in the previous films have had a very different take on the Kerala Police Force. If you've watched Nayattu and liked it, you're gonna like this film, but in a different way; also, there's a surprise waiting for you in this film.

Most cop dramas out of any of the film industries are over the top action films, but this...slow-burn... is grounded in reality (for the most part) and portrays the 'other side of the life' of the police officers that most films fail to show. The film depicts the events of an overnight patrol and almost every single thing the two cops do during this time, almost drags you along on this tiring journey. You really feel it's dragging along but that's deliberately done to make you feel how they feel on a daily basis. If you choose to not look at it that way, you're gonna feel like the parts of the patrol seem very repetitive and will start questioning why certain things happen the way they did in the film.

Dileesh Pothan and Roshan Matthew were fantastic in their roles, playing cops who've been a part of the force for 22 years (and about to retire soon) and 6 months respectively. You think you can predict where this film is going to go but writing slowly peels away the layers and makes you go "Yeah, I was not ready for that. Life isn't fair." Great acting and writing backed by awesome cinematography (the lush green locales makes you wonder if the shots have been over saturated but you realize it's Kerala and that's probably how the place is) and good sound design.

I initially didn't see the hype, thought this was overrated but the more I think about the film, the more I'm convinced that this was a banger but it'll sadly not be rated as high by the casual watchers. Regardless, if you like slow-burn thrillers, you should definitely watch this.

It was heartwarming to listen to Bengali after a longtime. Aap Jaisa Koi, at least the first half was surprisingly good despite being a Sanskari version of Rocky Aur Rani ki Prem Kahani. Madhavan and Fatima had great chemistry.

For a change, it was refreshing to watch something that wasn't mindless action from Bollywood, but good lord the plot twist was so unnecessary and the ending felt too convenient. What should have been a breezy movie got derailed in the process of trying too hard to be preachy for the sake of it.

Sit down and watch the first half as you have your lunch, let the 2nd half run in the background when you're doing the dishes after lunch.