Antony

Soulful, with touches of yesteryear charm

Director Joshiy keeps finding a way of reinventing himself despite never quite straying away from the action entertainer genre. This Joju George and Kalyani Priyadarshan-starrer follows the typical Joshiy-film template, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It has enough fresh elements to keep the audience hooked to the relationship between Antony and Ann Maria, even when the rest is predictable.

Despite having a plot that is bound to captivate Malayali audiences, Antony falls flat pretty much from the start due to sloppy writing. Although the film has moments that could be impactful and/or stir a range of emotions, Rajesh Varma's narrative remains mostly average.

Overfamiliarity breeds fatigue—that's Antony in a nutshell. It has tropes, themes, situations, characters, and milieu that we have seen way too many times... It's one of those movies that would've probably worked in the 80s or 90s but appears way past its expiry date.

Though the film does progress quite smoothly, writer Rajesh Varma and director Joshiy's efforts to focus on all the characters individually affect the filmmaking. This element stretches the film, making the narrative tiresome after some point. However, the performances of the actors overcome these shortcomings and manage to offer viewers a decent viewing experience.

It is not as 'mass,' but an average film that gives you your money's worth of entertainment.