Good Night Review: Sweet Watch!
Ashwin Ram
Good Night is an emotional comedy drama starring Manikandan and Meetha Raghunath in the lead roles. It is directed by debutant Vinayak Chandrasekaran.
Premise:
Manikandan is an IT employee who is ridiculed by the people around him due to his snoring problem. Meetha Raghunath and him fall in love and they get married. Only then, the heroine finds how loud her husband snores while sleeping, the marriage life drama unfolds.
Writing/ Direction:
Snoring is such a relatable topic, the core will instantly connect with everyone. The beauty is that the story doesn’t stick only to it, characters and situations are very well written for us to empathize with the on-going drama. Manikandan is like a next-door guy whom we see in our day to day life, while Meetha is silent and has a lot of past hardships going on in her head, these traits of the lead characters are quickly yet strongly established. The love portions are so adorable as we watch with a little smile on our face. There are plenty of comedy moments powered by lively dialogues at wacky spots, the jokes land exceptionally well as they have a very authentic approach to it. The drama and the characters involved in it evolve simultaneously with the screenplay, the undercurrent snoring problem gets registered as well. Absolutely no complaints with the first half which offers a non-stop tornado of entertainment. The second half has its strengths and weaknesses in an equal split. The reasoning behind the drama is strong, it has two layers in fact, snoring which is natural and Manikandan struggles to handle his self-guilt. But somehow the incompleteness in certain scenes and storytelling slowly moving towards the cinematic side lowers the impact. Also, the length appears to be an issue, the drama is stretched out without a powerful conflict to drive forward. The climax is underwhelming too, the way things conclude between the characters could have had a little more realistic sense. However, the second also has impressive sequences that are engaging for sure, but just could not invest that much.
Performances:
Manikandan is such a delightful performer and he proves it time and again. He is so natural on-screen and the character he has played here is likable. Neat act by Meetha Raghunath, subtle on-screen by perfectly adapting her role. Ramesh Thilak is another spontaneous and a momentous performer who can play two extremes, he scores in both the comedy and the emotional situations. The equation between Balaji Sakthivel and his wife's character is so cute. Likewise, most of the characters are portrayed with solid writing and they all blend beautifully.
Technicalities:
Superb work by the sound department, not just the snoring noise, impressive sounds are planned and used as per the edit transitions. Lovely work by Sean Roldan, he makes the montages more memorable by his songs and the background score also helps the different moods of the story. Quality camera work, the team has given everything that is required to present a scene to its full value. Plenty of sharp and thoughtful cuts, but the overall runtime could have been a bit crisper.
Bottomline
Offers a rare yet a relatable core topic, such a lively flick that gets dull marks with its setup that has some admiring establishment scenes and great laugh value. The second half is decently made, but the emotional drama lacks impact.
Rating - 3/ 5