Reviews

I'm not entirely sure why this series has a rating of 8. There are some good actors, who are mostly confined to side roles, and an overall slick production.

The plot may have sounded interesting when it was pitched to the financiers but it's poorly executed. The writing and pace is uneven with shoddy camera work and terrible direction. The creators may have intended to make a series like Sacred Games or Pataal Lok but it clearly takes more than an abundance of funds to do that.

A wasted opportunity that could have been saved by better craftsmen.

The writers of Malayalam films might be under unrealistic pressure. The industry has to compete with big budget productions from neighboring Tamil and Telugu film industries, to which its losing a young audience. But they lack the resources to execute such blockbusters, so the compromise is to build a script that's very complex, with multiple twists and sub-plots, and hope that would draw the audience.

Forensic is one such effort where the emphasis is on an unnecessary complicated plot.

The film does some things well -

• It tries to inform the audience on the power of forensic analysis, in solving crimes.
• It touches on uncomfortable topics like murder without motive and the mental/social framework that breeds psycopaths.
• Most of the actors come across as earnest (although Geethu Mohandas could benefit lessons in subtelty/restrain)
• The production quality is very decent. It's clear the film didn't have a huge budget but it tries to maximize that in terms of visuals and production quality.

Where the film falters terribly is in its story telling/narration -

• The plot tries to weave the personal stories of the main characters into the narrative. It almost looks like the filmmakers were told at the last minute that they needed to attract the "TV serial" watching audience so a tacky family drama had to be incorporated into a serious crime thriller!
• The characters are all over the place- the officer in charge of the investigation is closely related to the chief medical officer who is responsible for the forensic analysis. While she tries to keep his powers in check, he appears to be running his own investigation with seemingly endless resources and no oversight. You are left to wonder, who is really in charge here!
• Back to the family drama, more baggage gets dragged into it by bringing in brothers and mothers and daughters into the plot.
• The background score is distracting and just silly with chants of kids and random songs with meaningless lyrics overwhelming the soundtrack. It's like the director is trying his best to make a bad experience worse!

While watching this, I found myself comparing this to another Malayalm film, "Joseph". While that movie is not perfect, it does rely on what good Malayalam films were always built on - solid scripts, relatable characters and realistic settings. I know for many viewers, films are an escape and realism is not something they crave for in entertainment. But Malayalam films had the unique ability to entertain and inform its audience with minimalistic productions, good acting and well executed scripts. If they continue to build on that foundation, they would not need to compete with their neighbors but can stand on their own.

I am surprised this short film has not been reviewed yet.

"Shameless" touches some uncomfortable topics - loneliness, isolation, insecurity, prejudices etc. The overall presentation is dark - both visually and thematically - but there is an underlying message of hope, humanity and decency. For a short film to accomplish all this in a short time (pun unintended) requires skillful narration and solid performances - both of which Shameless accomplishes effortlessly.

Highly recommended.

I realize I'm in the minority here but I really wanted to like this due to the stellar cast and Ben Stiller and the story and all that. But I found myself bored quite often during the series and wondering if they could just "hurry it up"! The acting is top notch but the pace is way too slow. Almost like Stiller was asked to create a 7 part series and he decided to stretch what could have been completed in 3 or 4 episodes.

I recently watched Chernobyl and kept comparing it to this. Chernobyl takes its time but also maintains pace to keep you riveted always. This one doesn't and force you to sit thru laborious sex scenes, back stories, side stories etc. that often feel quite unnecessary and does nothing to move the narrative forward.

At the end it does some things well. The prison setting and the workings of it are captured well. Del Toro and Dano are in good form. Patricia Arquette is convincing in her role. David Morse is dependable as always. The actor playing Arquettes husband draws sympathy towards his character. If only they had a more competent editor, this could have been a compelling series.

Just when you think Malayalam cinema is facing redemption in the form of Action Hero Biju and similar films that push the boundary, here comes another pretentious, meandering piece of garbage!

I don't need to go into the plot or such but the premise is flawed which could have been still salvaged by a better director but instead we get some random situations played out by a bunch of equally random actors that make it boring.

Biju Menon's wife has the look of an abused housewife every time her husband speaks to her... I am not sure if she did not grasp the character but I have found her to be an otherwise okay actor in the past. Aashiq Abu's character seems all over the place... not entirely sure what he's going after. Biju may be the only saving grace but he himself cannot rescue the film. The rest of the characters - the female character, the bike mechanic, the gujurati friend (why he needs to be gujurati is unknown!) - they all come across as props and simply meaningless to the story.

But it's perhaps the wayward script and poor editing wherein lies the fault. Scenes are dragged out way too far, the film itself could have wrapped up 30 minutes sooner and may have had some redeeming factor.

Avoidable and forgettable film!.