Paleri Manikyam

Based on the first recorded murder case in Kerala, comes a film starring Mammooty that tries to evoke his days as super sleuth in the CBI Diary Kurippu series. Here though he is just a private eye who returns to his native village of Paleri and tries to recreate the mysterious circumstances of the death of the sultry Manikyam (Mythili) fifty two years after the event. Using some nifty film making techniques, director Renjith splices the present day Mamooty in to the past to act as a guide to the events. Research and a heavy dose of intuition are the weapons used to unravel this mystery. The production quality is high and the cinematography is breath taking making this a slick well thought out film though the dose of intuition could have been curtailed.

Rating: * * +

Meesa Madhavan

In the spirit of Kayamkulam Kochunni comes a comedy starring Dilip about a benevolent small town thief. Well loved by the town folk and only viewed as a minor irritant, his only enemy is the stingy moneylender Bhageerathan Pillai (Jagathi). The film basically follows the hilarious cat and mouse game between the two as they try to one up each other. Weak on the story line but the comedy is stellar. However it is not a throw back to the classic Malayalam comedies from the 80s and 90s but it at least attempts to go back to that era.

Rating: * * + 

In the Land of Blood and Honey

The movie starts gently with a man and a woman flirting on the dance floor. Their tryst is rudely interrupted by an explosion that the director cleverly uses to mark the intrusion of the Bosnian war into lives of the common folk. Next time the couple meet, Ajla (Zana Marjanovic) and Danijel (Goran Kostic) find themselves at the opposite sides of the ethnic conflict. Ajla being Muslim Bosnian is held captive by the Serbs and as coincidence or fate would have it, the commanding officer of the unit is Danijel. The laws of attraction paying scant attention to ethnicity, rears it heads as the two plunge down the illicit relationship road that turns darker as the movie flows. The story line is not original as the scenario has been visited before in Earth: 1947 and Lust, Caution. However nothing should be taken away from Angelina Jolie given that it is her debut as a director. She just needs to work on getting stillness right.

Rating: * * *

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Smiley’s world beckoned and I shuddered. After an extended tryst with Sir Alec I was not sure if this world needed to be explored again through different lenses. I am glad I did. Gary Oldman plays Smiley with hint of Sir Alec and John Hurt takes on the mantle of Control. Benedict Cumberbatch effortlessly slips out of his Sherlock persona and in to the shoes of Peter Guillam as the hunt for the mole within the Circus (Britain’s MI6) is kicked off.

Comparisons with the BBC mini series is inevitable though hardly any movie reviews mention it. The BBC series gives the viewer time to dwell in this world and take in the events at a more leisurely pace. The film interestingly recreates the atmosphere much better as you find yourself transported to the Cold War era. The film packs in events and you are held tautly as you follow Smiley’s machinations to discover the mole.  

Rating: * * * +

Up in the Air

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) lives out of a suitcase as he travels the road firing people for a living and loves every moment of it. Part and parcel of this kind of lifestyle is a loneliness that he cherishes. A man who truly touches no one and no one touches him. Then Alex (Vera Farmiga) enters his life and everything harkens back to that quote from Into the Wild. “Happiness only real when shared”

Rating: * * *

Life Without Principle

Johnnie To takes a slight break from his typically mafia dramas and bases this film on the ongoing financial crisis. The film is split in to three intertwining strands… a bank teller turned financial advisor is forced to dump high risk mutual funds on unsuspecting clients to make her sale numbers. Panther, a small time crook, played with aplomb by Ching Wan Lau is running around trying to raise money to bail out his blood brother. A young police officer finds new demands on him as his wife wants to buy an expensive high rise apartment. The incident tying the threads together is the assault on a loan shark who was walking around with $10 million. Brilliantly directed by To as he moves the threads forward and back while slowly putting together the pieces of the puzzle.

Rating: * * *