The lack of narrative tension in 'Darvinte Parinamam' proves to be the major reason behind its undoing. Despite the presence of an admirably capable cast, 'Darvinte Parinamam' gets bogged down by a tremendously blown up script that winds round and round before it finally arrives at the finishing mark.
Anil Anto (Prithviraj) shifts to Cochin from Kottarakkara along with his pregnant wife (Chandini Sreedharan), unable to suffer the taunts of his mother. At Cochin, the couple starts weaving their dreams on a fresh yarn, and life looks promising until an untoward incident sends it crashing down in a spiral.
Darwin (Vinod Jose) is a don based in Cochin who has had it up to his neck with his worthless younger brothers. Not one renowned for his refined ways, when he decides to renovate the local church, Darwin has everyone gasping in amazement. 'Darvinte Parinamam' makes a move finally, after many an initial hiccup, when Anil and Darwin finally get to meet each other, as the half time card comes up.
This could perhaps qualify as a tale of retribution, but the lack of excitement draws out the sap from it, leaving it all pale and pallid. There are instances galore in it that are supposedly hilarious, but which fade away without even as much as a whimper.
The last one hour of the film is a test on your patience, as Darwin and Anil set out on a weird expedition of starts, that has the latter seeking sweet revenge. Far from fun, these are sequences that are far too sluggish to perk up the spirits of the viewer. It seems like 'Darvinte Parinamam' has intentions of selling itself as a comic thriller, but the comedy is missing and so are the mandatory thrills.
Despite flaunting his dashing looks, Prithviraj has little to do in 'Darvinte Parinamam' that would make you drop your jaws in admiration (as he so often does). Barring the odd hospital scene, there is little in 'Darvinte Parinamam' that would be remembered for Prithviraj, the actor. Vinod Jose does his bit admirably well, and the film also has some commendable supporting performances from actors as Soubin Shahir and Chandini Sreedharan.
The film does have an impressive musical score by Sankar Sharma and has been imposingly caught on camera by Abinandhan Ramanujam. It remains though that one hundred and fifty minutes, 'Darvinte Parinamam' is agonizingly lengthy by any yardstick.
The ultimate questions as to who is the villain of the piece and who plays the hero, in due course lose their significance, since it doesn't appear the least significant as to who the protagonist is or who the antagonist is. What does matter is that 'Darvinte Parinamam' is an excruciatingly long flick that never lets its promising premise to evolve into an appealing drama.
'Darvinte Parinamam' does put forward the buoyant suggestion every now and then that something better is lying in wait just round the corner. But it carries on babbling continually, almost as if not knowing when to stop, and at the end of it all, is left with nothing but a few sparsely delightful moments here or there.
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