Friendships nurtured over years can be solid bonds for life or the source of secrets that you bury along. What happens when an unfortunate incident breaks open the barrier, bringing to light the closeted skeletons? 12th Man is a watchable whodunnit thriller exploring the same which is marred by parts of uninspired writing and unnecessary gags, the biggest genre killers.
If you can stand this movie’s
first 45 minutes, bearing some double meaning jokes, inorganic bonding overs, and unnecessary build-up of some characters which are left forgotten after that,
you will be rewarded with a decent thriller. It felt like Jeethu Joseph asked someone else
to write that part or he was completely uninterested or had no clue how to
write that part of the narrative, take your pick. From the moment the trailer launched, there
have been talks about its inspiration from the British crime novelist, Agatha
Christie’s narratives, which I am unfamiliar with, so I found the movie to be a
decent one-time watch, it could be a different experience to those who are
familiar with the same.
Either way, 12th Man, might
be Jeethu Joseph’s weakest project to date, nonetheless, his love for this genre
is evident in the latter part of the film and managed to keep me hooked enough
to finish the almost 3 hours overtly dragged thriller, in one go. Mohanlal
could have done this role in his sleep, but it was definitely a relief to see
him acting and finally emoting, in a sensible narrative unlike his last two
outings, Aarattu and Bro Daddy, which were immensely problematic and unbearable.
I would prefer watching, my once favorite actor in such projects. It’s better
than seeing him plummeting to a level, where I have to detox myself by watching
some of his earlier works to believe, he was one of the best actors, the country
once had to offer. Pretty low bar to expect out of an actor you love, but my hope for him to showcase in something which is at par with his talent and
to upgrade himself to the changing times, has diminished long back.
The rest of the cast has been appropriately
picked and does their job good enough. Even though I felt Leona Lishoy’s
character Fida, to be the stereotypical idea, general society adamantly
believes about “modern” or “separated” or “divorced” women, the ‘free bird’,
drinking, smoking, one-toned character. Although that aspect is used to
showcase the general apathy shown by her ‘friends’ and also their ‘holier than
thou' attitude to her, which crashes in unprecedented ways, it still felt a very cliched
portrayal. Also why in the world are filmmakers obsessed with bringing mental
health, an area with many taboos and misconceptions around, into narratives to
build up complexities? It felt like the writers just needed a complex mental
health condition, called up a professional to seek the definition, and just
added it to the character. It adds nothing to the plot but definitely to the fear
and discrimination faced by people who suffer from it.
Jeethu Joseph and Mohanlal's
combination is a source of high-end expectations for many since the
pathbreaking ‘Drishyam’ Part 1, which was indeed a proper thriller although I
had my differences with the message it conveyed. Drishyam 2 stretched it a bit
too much for me, where I felt the movie lost its plot and sense, in its stubbornness
to make itself a thriller where the main character has to win and even more problematic
messages. 12th Man, the weakest association of the duo is just that,
an average whodunnit, a genre both the actor and director seem to enjoy and hoped
the audience would too.
Relationships portrayed in
movies are simplistic and often unrealistic. In real life, no matter how much
we romanticize, while some relations grow over to be families, there are many
which are born out of conveniences or simply ones you tolerate. The judgments
amidst such relationships are as toxic as they can get and at times all hell breaks
loose when unprecedented complexities light up. Maybe that’s one thing that
the movie could make you think about. Also, in such situations, sometimes
jumping to judge others might also end up staring right back at you. Abridging
the song “Find” from the movie, ‘Over your shades and beyond your charades,
would you let yourself be found? Would you dare find yourself?’ are questions
that might linger in your thoughts after watching 12th Man.
You can watch 12th
Man on Disney+Hotstar.
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