Dominic Movie Review: Mammotty’s Thriller Suffers With Too Predictability

Dominic Movie Review: After delivering two not-so-good films like Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu (2022) and Joshua: Imai Pol Kaakha (2024), the maverick director, Gautham Vasudev Menon, teamed up with Malayalam Superstar Mammootty for the Malayalam mystery comedy thriller film, Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse. The film instantly generated buzz when it was announced last year due to the unusual combination of the hero and the director. The film was released in theaters today in Malayalam. Did Gautham Vasudev Menon deliver a much-needed hit film to his currently struggling career as a director? Did Mammootty deliver yet another memorable performance? Let’s find out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Mrs. Madhuri (Viji Venkatesh), the landlord of C.I. During her visit to a hospital, Dominic finds an unattended ladies’ purse with some cash and a chain in it. She asks Ex-Cop C.I. Dominic, a detective, to find out the whereabouts of the purse owner and hand it over to her. A reluctant Dominic makes a deal with Mrs Madhuri and starts investigating to find out the owner of the purse. Who is the owner of the purse? Why did she miss the purse in the hospital? What did Dominic find during his investigation? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Mammootty delivered a very good performance as usual. His subtle comedy timing and performance as C.I. Dominic is the only thing in the film that made the audience sit through the first two hours of the film. Debutant Sushmitha Bhatt as Nandita got a meaty role. She looked confident and delivered a good performance.

Vineeth Radhakrishnan, of Prema Desam & Chandramukhi fame, appeared on screen after a long time. He did his role well. Shine Tom Chacko appeared as Alby got a small and insignificant role. Viji Venkatesh as Mrs. Madhuri, the landlord, played a crucial role and she did well. Gokul Suresh in the role of Dominic’s assistant generated a few laughs here and there.

Technicalities:

Gautham Vasudev Menon movies usually will have very good music, but in ‘Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse’, the music is below par. Darbuka Siva neither composed good songs nor scored an exciting background score.

Editing by Anthony is one of the main culprits in the technical department film. At least 30 minutes of the film should have been edited to make it crisp and exciting. A couple of sub-threads with no relevance to the actual story should have been edited. The cinematography by Vishnu Dev is decent. Overall, the technical standards of the film are subpar compared to the standards we usually get to see in Malayalam films.

The director, Gautham Vasudev Menon, who also shared the screenplay credits with two others, came up with a disappointing film. He should have put more effort into making the film gripping with a tight screenplay.

Positives:

Mammootty Performance
Pre-Climax & Climax

Negatives:

Unexciting Screenplay
Predictable Twist
Editing
Music
Boring First Two Hours

Sankranthiki Vasthunnam Movie Review: Venkatesh’s Hilarious Family Drama Hits

Dominic Movie Review:

There’s a dialogue in the movie where Dominic says that he is bored with an investigative thriller movie because he was able to predict the twist midway through the film. It is the exact feeling most of the audience, with a little bit of experience in watching investigative thriller films, get while watching ‘Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse’. Right from the very first moment the antagonist appears on screen, the audience can guess that he/she is the culprit. The only thing that may intrigue the audience is why he/she did what they did.

The director, Gautham Vasudev Menon, got the last act right (pre-climax and climax). It is only during the last act of the film that we get to see the director’s brilliance. But again, by the time the last act starts, we already get to know ‘Who’ did it and we just wait to see ‘Why’ they did it. It felt like that the director wrote the final twist before and tried to add some painfully boring and slow-paced investigative drama around that twist so they could make a full-length feature film.

Mammootty, with his effortless performance and subtle comedy timing, tried his best to make the audience sit through the film. Right from the word go until the pre-climax, the film offers no thrills. What we get to see until pre-climax is forever dragged along boring investigative sequences unfolding one after the other. Investigative thriller films work big time when they are made with a tight screenplay, crisp runtime & at least one is two breathtaking twists. The problem with ‘Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse’ is that it is two hours and thirty-odd minutes long, and it neither has a tight screenplay nor a few breathtaking twists.

Overall, Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse is yet another disappointing film from Gautham Vasudev Menon in recent times and may not deserve a visit to the theatre to watch it. You may give it a try when it is released on a digital platform during your free time.