“The Smile Man” Film Review

Sarathkumar’s 150^th film is a slow-paced, sloppily made suspense thriller that takes a good premise and destroys its potential through weak writing within a painfully disjointed screenplay.

Sarathkumar plays the lead role, supported by Suresh Mneon (ex-husband of actress Revathy), Kalaiyarasan, Sija Rose, Ineya, George Maryan, Rajkumar and child actress Azhiya.

Chidambaram Nedumaaran (R. Sarathkumar) suffers from a combination of Alzheimer’s and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – I am calling it a combination of the two as the writers and directors clearly had no idea about either. Chidambaram launches a book about his experiences as a policeman, including his knowledge of the unsolved serial killer known as the Smile Man. He eventually joins Aravind (Sri Kumar), the son of his former mentor, Venkatesh (Suresh Chandra Menon) to reopen the case and find the mystery killer. Along the way, Chidambaram must deal with the ghosts from his past and his fragmented memories of the trauma he suffered.

Directorial duo, Syam and Praveen, had a good enough story penned by Kamala Alchemis but the scripting and screenplay are both hopelessly inadequate in capturing or sustaining attention. The characterisation and acting are so bad that it soon becomes clear that any emotional connection between the audience and the characters would be impossible. The lack of logic in the characters’ actions and the wooden performances of most of the principal characters make the 2-hour film seem like a four-hour ordeal. In terms of acting, this department is partially saved by a riveting and convincing portrayal of Prabhu, brilliantly played by Kalaiyarasan.

Cinematographer Vikram Mohan has some outstanding shots but is not consistent through the film, San Lokesh’s editing is shockingly bad while music by Gavaskar Avinash is brilliant.

As the film plods towards a fragmented climax, the inexperience of the production team becomes sadly evident. It is a pity that Sarathkumar did not take greater care in selecting a writer and director for his landmark 150^th film.

The Smile Man scores 5 points out of 10.