Pattinapakkam Review:  A sluggish, wannabe crime-thriller, that lacks the thrill 

Crime thrillers can be of two types: films that are serious, close to reality and unapologetically brutal at times, like the recent Imaikka Nodigal, and ones that are comical, and light-hearted like the classic Chidambara Rahasiyam. But debutant Jayadev Balachandra's Pattinapakkam, which tries hard to belong to the first category, becomes unintentionally funny in many instances.

The film tries to be a lot of things at the same time. It starts off as a murder mystery and quickly slips into the family-drama genre, while trying hard to be a comedy intermittently. This lack of clarity in the writing and the sloppy execution makes Pattinapakkam a hard film to sit through. 

Director: Jayadev Balchandra
Cast: Kalaiyarasan, Chaya Singh, Manoj K Jayan, MS Bhaskar, Anaswara Kumar

Vetri (Kalaiyarasan), a happy-go-lucky youngster, who is on the quest to get money to pay back the money-lenders he borrowed from, and an oppressed housewife, Sheeba (Chaya Singh), cross path over an accidental murder. Needless subplots involving a deputy commissioner and a couple of journalists intertwine with the main conflict over the course of the film. 

The abusive relationship between Sheeba and James (Manoj K Jayan), bears an uncanny resemblance to this year's Iravukku Aayiram Kangal, with Chaya Singh's looks and performance furthering the illusion that you are watching an extension of the Arulnithi-starrer. The fact that this stretch happens to be the only well-written part is rather unfortunate. 

Given that all of Vetri's short-spanned jobs facilitate opportunities to survey residential areas and spot potential victims in the film, I was tempted to construct smart theories concerning the character's grey shades. But Jayadev, the director keeps the plot incredibly plain and dull.

Halfway into the film, I started doubting whether the film's script was written in reverse, with the 'all-is-well' climax being locked first, and the rest of the conflicts written around it. Things go haywire in the second half, and we are left with little choice, but to sit through the bizarre coincidences that become increasingly laughable.

The damages, however, could have been lessened to a considerable extent, if the director had decided to focus on the core conflict of the serial killer on the prowl, without wasting valuable screen-time on the tedious subplots, which, much like this film, hardly leave an impact.