Anthony movie review:

In directors’ Sukirthan Chrithuraja and Jenosan Rajeswar’s Anthony, the titular character, a fisherman played by Kayal Vincent, often gets elevation lines in odd places. It is a bizarre choice of storytelling for a film that aims for sentimental realism. For example, when a character describes him as a man who knows all corners of the sea like the back of his hand, he takes a laboured walk as if the burden of his whole community rests on his shoulders. It is the walk of a man who has lived a life full of suffering and pain and has very little to live for. Anthony tries to honour the hardship of the working class, in this case fisherfolk, but despite the earnest attempt, it dials up the sentimentality in the hopes of eliciting a poignant reaction, and ends up becoming exhausting and rather pitiful.

Anthony is someone who chooses to go fishing on a small canoe, letting the rest of his community go for the big fish with boats. However, the film makes it loud and clear that the key to catching fish is the fisherman and not the tools. Some of the youngsters in the community do not understand this, and they pick up fights with Anthony simply because they cannot do what he can. The film spends a considerable amount of time showing this world and its conflicts. In between, there is also the love story of a youngster (Sudharshan Raveendran) and a coastal girl. None of these tracks help the narrative, as the film is only about Anthony, his wife Nalini (TJ Bhanu) and their daughter Vaanila (Ashana Julius). 

Directors: Sukirthan Chrithuraja and Jenosan Rajeswar

Cast: Kayal Vincent, TJ Bhanu, Sudharshan Raveendran

For Anthony, the ocean isn't just the source of his livelihood. We are shown the calming, elaborate shot of Anthony going fishing with his child and explaining to her how the ocean serves as a mother figure. However, soon, the story enters choppy waters as the sea is shown to be not just a provider but a punisher as well. It is a classic trope. The moment a protagonist tries to earn happiness at the expense of their financial security, we know something bad is just around the corner. Thus, Anthony becomes predictable, even if you discount the fact that the first scene itself gives away the ending.

The film quickly becomes an endurance test because it dials the melodrama up to eleven, without offering any breathing space between the poverty and the perilous upshot. The lighter moments between Anthony and his family, which could have acted as breathers, are stuffed into songs. Instead of spending time with the protagonist and his love story, the romantic moments between a random youngster and his lover take centrestage. While the film tries to bring some meaning to this youngster’s track with a last-ditch message, it is too little too late by then. With more space for the main characters to breathe and come to life, the climax could have worked at a more cathartic level.

The only redeeming factor, then, are the performances, especially by Kayal Vincent and TJ Bhanu. Vincent is saddled with a one-note role that is primed to pull at our heartstrings, but the actor understands the assignment, serving a gauntlet of tears on cue while bringing a startling contrast between his character’s older self and younger version. The younger Anthony is not burdened by the same toil as the older one, and the actor makes this distinction evident in his body language. On the other hand, TJ Bhanu shows commendable restraint and brings out her character’s inner turmoil convincingly, while serving as a perfect foil for the more explicitly emotional Anthony.

Without these two actors delivering more than what the material allows them to, the film would have been an even bigger slog than it already is. They are the heart and soul of the film, elevating the film from its painful and pitiful depths, even as the actual soul is buried under a barrage of melodramatic moments.