Dominic And The Ladies’ Purse Review: Mammootty’s Thriller Is Decent But Misses Its Full Potential

Last Updated:January 23, 2025, 23:13 IST

Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse Movie Review: In an attempt to show restraint and avoid excess heroism, the Mammootty starrer became mellow.

Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse Movie Review: No one parodies Gautham Menon’s films better than the director himself. A few minutes into Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse, we see a middle-aged married man lying in a hotel room bed with his mistress. The camera captures them from a top angle as he delivers the iconic line from Vaaranam Aayiram (2008), “Inga yaarum ivlo azhaga oru ponna paathuruka maataan.” This memorable dialogue catapulted Gautham to stardom, not just in Tamil Nadu but also in Kerala. Seventeen years later, the director transforms it into a self-deprecating joke in his Malayalam debut— a film that is noticeably devoid of his signature style, trademarks, and aesthetics. With Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse, Gautham brings an air of effortless charm, much like the film’s laid-back protagonist, CI Dominic (Mammootty). The usual deliberate effort to establish a distinct voice or tone in his films is replaced by a sense of restraint and candidness, which, at times, makes the film feel a bit flat.

However, that is overcome by a few factors. One is the engaging story, penned by Neeraj Rajan. A former police officer CI Dominic makes a living as a private investigator. He promotes himself with posters all across the town of Ernakulam. “It is our business to know what other people don’t know,” reads the punchline of his flyers. Everything about the poster, his worn-out and clumsy apartment (which he calls the perfect ambience for a detective) makes him a tacky personality. He even turns his apartment into a blatantly fake crime scene for his YouTube channel. In essence, Dominic is the private detective version of Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad–just that the hero here is not just all brain. He is brawn too. Now, when he is forced to find the owner of a misplaced purse, the silly case evolves into a mystery of two missing individuals and things more sinister.

There’s more to Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse than its story. It also becomes a character study of Dominic, and like most detective stories, it unravels from the perspective of a Watson. In this case, it is from Vignesh (Gokul Suresh), a youngster from an affluent family who likes good suspense. Though the film lacks Gautham’s trademark style, it aims to be a cosy murder mystery with abundant humour from its titular character. That’s where Mammootty scores. The Malayalam superstar has become everything filmmakers want him to be. Here, he fleshes out the sarcastic, streetsmart, and self-serving protagonist, who also betrays a vulnerable side despite his efforts to hide it. The success of Gautham and Mammootty lies in arriving at this balance. There’s a thin line that prevents Dominic from becoming a caricature, and they both play a tactful game playing on the brink, without crossing it.

Yet, Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse fails to reach its potential. The film needed a lot more bite. In an attempt to show restraint and avoid excess heroism, the film became mellow. There was nothing at stake as it was evident from the tone that the film would not take a lot of risk. It also failed to inspire an emotional investment in the missing people. There was only a cold interest in knowing the suspense, sans the much-needed catharsis. The reveal didn’t provide the eureka moment as it lacked the vigour. The protagonist had it easy, and it felt like the audience was never included in the game of deduction. Nevertheless, Dominic and Gautham have just about enough going for them to extend this universe, and another case for this enigmatic detective will be welcome.