Sherlock Toms

At the end of the film, the movie Sherlock Toms is trying to project its leading man as an intelligent enforcement officer. But the path the film has chosen is the awkward part here. Making an entire second half a rescue operation, this movie from Shafi struggles due to a fragile screenplay. The screenplay dangles between the desperation to be a comedy entertainer and a smart thriller and ultimately lands in neither of those.

Thomas is this fan of Sherlock Holmes. From childhood itself he has had this passion to be an investigator/ detective. Even though he got job in a department that doesn’t really have a scope to be an investigating officer, he always tried his best to do something interesting. The film Sherlock Toms actually talks about that particular phase in Thomas’s life where he finally got the opportunity but had to face unprecedented hurdles. His depression and how he finally manages to get back into the real Sherlock mode is what this Shafi film showing us.

The villain of the movie in my opinion is the weak writing. In order to establish the backdrop of our hero, the writers are trying to include way too many subplots with no solid base. His childhood deeds and its consequences are getting referred frequently in the film with zero impact. His friendship with the gang lead by the character played by Salim Kumar and his equation with wife and father etc. feels so artificial. The lack of authenticity is also a problem as the story here needs a certain level of logical justification.

Biju Menon is in his typical form here. The kind of humor in his portrayal that we have seen already in recent films gets repeated here and the role isn’t particularly challenging for him. Srinda as the wife was fine, but the overall eccentric tone of that character wasn’t really convincing. Salim Kumar gets a forgettable character. Mia’s character was also not that interesting.  Noby, Hareesh, Kottayam Naseer, Kalabhavan Shajon and several others are there in the supporting cast to enhance the humor track of the film. Poor Vijayaraghavan is running inside a hotel wearing just a bath towel in a pointless role and the Suresh Krishna comedy rack reminded me of some of those track comedies we see in Tamil films.

Shafi is keener on making it a comedy entertainer. But the film on totality has an inclination towards being a suspense thriller. The lack of authenticity in the thriller part and the lingering screenplay that tries to stretch the plot through half baked situations in the second half derails the movie from its track. The cinematography was just okay. The cuts should have been more organized. The theme music seems to be quite familiar. The music was fine from Bijibal even though the placing f those songs in the film lacked conviction.

Sherlock Toms doesn’t have the legitimacy of a good investigational thriller. The lack of conviction in conceiving the thriller part and the leaning towards typical comedy pulls it back from being a watchable film.

Rating: 2/5