218. Jo And Jo; movie review

 

JO & JO

Cert 12A

133 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, sexual violence references, sex references

Lovelorn young people finding their way in the strangely unregulated world of Covid lockdown sounds rather unpromising.

But, despite lacking much substance, Arun D. Jose's Jo and Jo is unexpectedly heartwarming.

It stars Nikhila Vimal as the well-educated and self-opinionated sister of a bungler (Mathew Thomas) with a heart.

He becomes convinced she is having an affair after discovering a love letter outside their front gate. Meanwhile, she finds the discarded paper and thinks the letter is to him.

Thus, more than two hours of farce ensue during which the brother sets about finding the boy who has dishonoured his sister.

He does this in cahoots with his pals (Naslen K. Gafoor and  Melvin G. Babu) who are just as hopeless as him.

Consequently, their efforts are cack-handed to say the least.

Jo and Jo takes place during Covid but handles the outbreak curiously - in its early stages, there is lockdown and even the police threatening punishments to transgressors and then it seems to be forgotten.

Was this the way in the Indian countryside or did people adhere strictly to the rules? 

Anyway, the film continues as if nothing had happened other than the fall-out between brother and sister with the parents stuck in between.

This makes for a mix of comedy and drama which is reasonably engaging but is possibly strung out a tad too long.

Curiously, smoking is a key ingredient in the film as if its makers are trying to make a point about its perils.

But if the movie-makers were keen to include a health message why didn't they persevere with the Covid line?

The lack of continuity validated my view that this was a picture which was reasonably entertaining but short on substance.

Reasons to watch: Amiable rom com

Reasons to avoid: Not much substance

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? As of June 22, 2022 there have been 43,334,657 Covid related cases in India, including 524,903 deaths

The final word. Arun D Jose: "My film explores, through three parallel tracks, the conflicts between friends, siblings, and other family members when put in such a situation (lockdown) and how they tackle them." Cinema Express

Share this post