18+ Movie Review
18+: A predictable love story
'18+ Journey of Love' narrates the elopement tale of two lovers and the repercussions they face once they return to their village. It's a predictable uneventful journey of love albeit the strings of conflict get bolstered towards the finale by embracing better late than never approach."Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind." This Shakespearean quote is befitting for the plot of '18+ Journey of Love' as it showcases two lovers from different family backgrounds. Apparently, the hiccups in getting hitched crop up in the form of their parents. A typical format of a love story, the waft of romance is short-lived in Arun D Jose-directed film, which tries to emphasise its politics in the climax. The director of 'Joe and Joe' fame also highlights the struggles of lovers in getting married and if they will be able to reconcile with their parents.
Here, the hackneyed theme is infested with predictable moments en route to flag a social stigma being carried by a political leader that is in contrast to his frequent political ideology speech in public. Such a superior attitude is dormant in the consciousness of the girl's father, who is a party leader, and he can't even think of mending his orthodox thoughts. Till landing on this juncture, the movie traverses through an ultra familiar terrain with perfunctory events evoking hardly any emotions.
The tale of '18+ Journey of Love' is set in a village in 2009 at Vadakara, Kozhikode. Akhil, played by Naslen Gafoor, is an active worker of a political party in which Ravindran (Manoj KU) is an influential local leader. A dropout from polytechnic, Akhil is working in a workshop and falls in love with Athira Ravindran (Meenakshi Dinesh), daughter of his leader Ravindran.
One day, Akhil and Athira decide to elope when her parents oppose their relationship and try to send her to Ahamedabad. It's a cumbersome task for the lovers to elope from a place where the political party has a stronghold. So, Akhil seeks the help of tipper lorry driver Rajesh (Binu Pappu), whose marriage had created a furore in the party circle. Meanwhile, Akhil does not want his friend and co-party worker Deepak (Mathew Thomas) to know about his decision to elope since the latter is so close to Athira's brother. The major portions of the film are invested in delineating how Akhil's friends with the help of Rajesh are struggling to formalise the marriage between Akhil and Athira.
The predictable nature of the screenplay, written by Arun D Jose and Raveesh Nath, is dominant with little to offer in terms of novelty. It's a predictable uneventful journey of love albeit the strings of conflict get bolstered towards the finale by embracing better late than never approach. By the time the tale enters its grave phase, '18+ Journey of Love' chokes on the trite court sequences where Nikhila Vimal's character Magistrate Sony is a sign of relief.
Naslen has infused maximum effort in portraying the dilemma of the character, besides elevating his performance as a solo hero. Binu Pappu also has a neat outing with shades of humour are vivid in his performance. Meanwhile, the presence of Mathew Thomas, who appears as a dedicated and sincere party worker, fails to create a significant impression due to lack of room provided to his character in the tale.
