arungeorge13

Painkili attempts to be a thoroughbred rom-com, and while the comedy here is quirky, at times situational, and mostly over-the-top, the romance aspect is not established well in any sense. That is primarily due to Anaswara's character not having any semblance of an arc to speak of, which is justified by her age (where mistakes seem apparent). Yes, there are some Jithu Madhavan-certified laughs, and Justin Varghese scores the film superbly; however, the film lacks a decent flow from event to event, overall.

Sajin Gopu gets to showcase more of his acting palette compared to his previous films, but since I watched Ponman way before this, I think his performance in that film (even with limited dialogues) was a lot more impactful. Here, he's asked to go all out-crying, laughing, being unhinged-and of course, bring some adorable romantic shades. He isn't successful at all of it, but if anyone (especially, the old-school directors) hasn't taken sufficient note of the guy yet, this will wholly ensure it. Anaswara is undoubtedly a wonderful actor, but this role will likely go down as one of her least memorable ones. The scenes with Riyaz Khan and LJP, intended to be comedic, didn't work for me.

P. S. Jayaram's hysterical scene from Kaavadiyaattam was poorly re-created.

Sure, the film stretches the elastic boundaries of its one-line premise way beyond the levels of acceptable cinematic logic, but I have to say the cast truly rises to the occasion in making this an entertaining affair. Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder (you cutie!), Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon, and the rest of the ensemble do solid justice to their respective roles. Not all gags land safely, though most of it centers around some nasty (but painless?) physicality, and Quaid's quirky one-liners help elevate them. The action is gory and in-your-face; it's a tad too obvious given the plot conditionality. I also thought there were several instances where Quaid's character could've just bled out even if he wouldn't be feeling physical pain. Okay, I'm not gonna complain. As a 1h 40m action-comedy, Novocaine manages to oddly deliver what it promises.

While I'd say Opus is engaging from start to finish, it doesn't have any new tricks up its sleeve that we haven't already witnessed in several films with similar (cultish) plots. Almost every other review has mentions of those movies, so if you've seen those, then there isn't much in terms of conceptual newness here.

Somewhat interesting ideas are put across at a superficial level, and even the commentary that comes with it is barely explored. I liked the performances of John Malkovich (as a pop icon with a very weird side) and Ayo Edebiri (as a journalist looking for her big break), especially the former's, who seems to be having a ball of a time.

The screenplay is quite fast-paced for a psychological thriller, but predictability often plays spoilsport. Too many beats feel familiar, which hampers the overall enjoyability. I'm guessing this, alongside Y2K, will be counted amongst the rare, critical misses for A24 in recent times.