The Smile Man Movie Review: Even Sarathkumar can’t salvage this insipid thriller

Sarathkumar has been the harbinger of a multitude of cases surrounding serial murders and unsolved crimes, playing sharp-witted cops whose expertise lies in their years of experience. However, the actor's character Chidambaram Nedumaaran in The Smile Man, is weak; he is no longer a dapper officer who can solve cases. His experience is a memory, a story fed to policemen aspiring to go higher up on the career ladder. How an officer suffering from Alzheimer’s could reopen an already-solved case and find the killer is a goldmine-of-a-story that could be explored in a myriad of ways, instead we get a conventional story with a garden-variety serial killer who murders not just people but also our interest in the genre.

Cast: Sarathkumar, Ineya, Suresh Chandra Menon, Sreekumar, Sija Rose, Rajkumar, George Maryan, Kumar Natarajan, Baby Aazhiya

Directors: Syam-Praveen

An interesting aspect of a whodunit is the way in which the investigation unfolds. Sarakumar's character joins the force despite his health condition and provides inputs to catch 'The Smile Man'. For the discerning audience and fans of the genre, there is a fair idea of how these films pan out, considering the rise in films with such content in the last decade. But the makers decide to teach them from scratch. “He is a copycat killer,” Sarathkumar says pointing to his team and going on an explanation spree. “He dumps the bodies in public spaces, so I don’t think he will stop with one murder,” Keerthana (Sija Rose) quips, shockingly. The doctor who approves the autopsy report says, “He is a dangerous and untraceable killer.” This is not the first time the audience has heard this, and neither would they be shocked by these random fact-droppings. When similar scenes have been overused in countless films of the genre, why waste time rehashing a ‘Murder Mystery 101’ crash course?

Chidambaram’s Alzheimer’s is depicted almost like PTSD with borderline memory loss. Even a mere Google search will let you know that Alzheimer’s is a serious disorder that affects one's memory and daily routine. Every time Nedumaaran feels tense, he holds his temples and his shaking hands. And while the directors do touch upon the loss of memory, we never fully understand how the illness cripples his functionally fit body or deceives his memory. We get a glimpse of this for a few minutes of the story which lights our hopes. Unfortunately, that is all this film has to offer.

The Smile Man marks Sarathkumar’s landmark 150th film, and he pulls off his character with his usual ease, but when the writing doesn’t do justice to his calibre, even his character comes across as the unidimensional, ever-faithful cop with a painful flashback involving Baby Azhiya. What is even more painful is the repetitive usage of her image, voice, and dead body to evoke a sense of regret and agony inside Chidambaram. It is not just milked to the maximum but is also severely disturbing. Moreover, the loud background score arrives rushing before any minor twist or scare, distorting the entire viewing experience.  

There are no red herrings or unreliable narrators to at least bring some interesting twists to the narrative. Just like Iraivan, The Smile Man employs a lethargic and straightforward approach to finding the killer. Since the writing is confusing, the makers could have stuck to showcasing their killer up front and his emotionally distant backstory. If women were victims of murders in the Jayam Ravi-starrer, the women of this film—Keerthana (Sija Rose) and Chithra (Ineya)—fall victim to severely underwritten characters.

To make light of the proceedings, Pichumani (Rajkumar) says in one scene, ‘Enna Abi Abi?’ to a query of verifying an alibi, ‘adding humour’ to the scene, and even that doesn’t bring a smile to your face. When all these dull tropes continue to be added in a film that could have been experimental and unique, we wonder, “Isn’t it time that these cases are put to rest?”