A Dream Journey to Vallakkadavu

Angel John Movie Review

Angel John' is a fantasy that tries to bring in an element of magic into the most routine of tales in vain. A sloppy film that lacks any real fantastic flair, 'Angel John' remains as remote from earth as heaven.

Cast: Mohanlal, Santhanu Bhagyaraj, Bhama, Jagathy, SalimKumar, Suraj, Jayasoma, Bineesh Kodiyeri, Bheeman Raghu, Geetha, Ambika, Baiju

Director: S.L. Jayasurya

Producer: Narayana Das

Music: Ouseppachan

Lyrics: Subhash , Saseendra Varma

Cinematography: Ajayan Vincent

Angel John (Mohanlal) descends down on earth, as Maradona (Santhanu Bhagyaraj), dejected with life, climbs atop a lighthouse to call it quits. Legend has it that, the guardian angel might fly down to you in dire times of need, if you have a speck of virtue left somewhere in your heart. The angel signs up a divine agreement with the young prankster and agrees to grant him a boon every day.

It's interesting to note that the text on Maradona's T-shirts scream the story on their own. The 'Yo-Yo' label in the opening scene is all too evident, even in his gait. As he signs up with a Karate group to woo women, the Tee talks about his 'mission', and as he goes on a hunting spree for some money, the text says 'My Dad is an ATM'. And then when he decides to end it all, the Tee asks 'Y?'

In-film advertising climbs a notch higher with Angel John. Several shots in the first fifteen minutes of the film exclusively hover over Maradona's innerwear just to make sure that you realize how comfortable the whole thing can be. To make things more palpable, there is even a woman brought into the picture who stares at the waistband and passes a comment. That is, in case you have missed out on the point.

There are several attempts to establish a tagline for the film as well. 'Oru Rasam' (just for the fun of it), chants Maradona every now and then, until Angel takes it up later. It's another matter altogether that neither does it leave any impact nor does it serve a purpose.

It's merely there, for the sake of being there. At all the appropriate and inappropriate moments.

There are several deliberately interconnected characters in the first half, who try to rake up some laughter with flat jokes that have had their day long, long back. Their compulsion to hang on together, despite having no reason to do so, makes their efforts an exasperating one. Even after the Angel has flown in from heaven, things do not start looking up much, except for a very brief while.

Perhaps divine justice is what they are aiming at. I tell you this, because I happened to see Maradona conversing with the Angel on a boat called 'Pavithra' with the flag of Virgin Mary fluttering in the wind. Now you can't make things more obvious, can you? The boy has to be on the path to retribution, and he better start it off from a dinghy as this. Sophie (Nithya), the neighborhood girl, on the other hand, decides to script a movie under the angelic touch. But why on earth would anybody hang a poster of Gregory Peck's 'Gentleman's Agreement' in her living room?

The climax is a howler on several accounts. For one, the film manages to work up none of the emotional depth as is required of the plot. Instead it slips down into a swamp of clichés and sentimentality, from which it never crawls out. Secondly, in its frantic attempts to convincingly put an end to it all, it moves all of a sudden into unfamiliar territory and starts mumbling yet another sub plot incoherently. Stretched beyond permissible limits, the final moments of the film go on, forever.

Mohanlal tries to be an angel-next-door, and by design maintains that playful air around. Dressed in flashy shirts, swanky sun glasses, suits and even leather, there aren't many scenes when we feel an angelic presence though, with all the dents in the script. Except perhaps in the very last scene when he flings out those huge white wings from behind, for a moment. Santhanu is strictly what the film demands him to be, and is adequate for most of the part.

As the crowd glumly jostled out of the theatre, somebody wondered aloud as to why such films ever get made! Pat came the reply from some smarty walking behind: Oru Rasam!

Adoor to head Cairo festival jury

Renowned film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan will head the International jury of the 13th Cairo Film Festival commencing on November 10.

The 12-member jury will adjudge the winners from amongst the competition entries from 16 countries including India, a release said here Monday.

The festival will pay special tribute to Adoor at the inaugural function for his life-time contribution to cinema. His film 'Naalu Peenungal' will be screened in the non-competitive section, the release said.