JAMES AND ALICE MOVIE REVIEW

Prithviraj and Vedhika starrer, James and Alice marks the directorial debut of Sujith Vasudev. With a poetic message, this tale which is just not another rom-com, penned by Dr. S Janardanan becomes a harmless one time watch and here is the justification for the same.

When an upper-middle class man confronts marital distress, financial pressures and some career downfalls, all at a time, his thought process and approach towards life is impatient, harsh and stressful for obvious reasons. But what if this attitude grows to an extent of distorting the peace of a family that he created with all his efforts, love and affection? You will know that when you watch James and Alice.

Both the leads, Prithviraj and Vedhika are performers who have already proved their potential in their craft. With this film they only strengthen the above mentioned proof further. Special mention to the cuteness factor added by the character ‘Pinky’.

Good production value coupled with some bonafide work behind the camera by Sujith Vasudev himself makes this feature a pleasant one for your eyes. The director himself being the cinematographer answers why every emotion has been captured well. Neat work has been rendered in the edit table by Samjith Mhd. Gopi Sundar’s work with his songs and the BGM amplifies every mood. Few portions are dominated by his good sound.

Having said all this, what is that makes James and Alice a film only with an average impact? - The pace. The film starts slow, proceeds slower and eventually ends slow. If one manages to plot a graph for the pace vs the run time, you will end up with a straight line parallel to one of the axis. But aren’t crests and troughs a crucial one for a narration? The interval point may make you come forward from your laid back posture, but again, even before you reach the end point of the interval you recoil to your original posture with less attentiveness. 

The story told in the first half is a very usual one and automatically you will expect the usual things to happen in the second half. Fortunately, the small road that the narrator takes to tell this story in a slightly unexpected manner is a big relief in the second half.

With the right kind of pacing and inclusion of more entertaining elements (not necessarily commercial) James and Alice could have managed to become yet another memorable story.