4 Idiots Review: Tamil Heist Comedy-Thriller Gone Wrong

Meet the gang, all named after playing cards: King, Queen, Jack, and Ace. These four misfits scrape by on petty crime in Chennai, and their entire business model depends on one thing - crowded public transport. Then COVID-19 lockdowns hit, the buses stop running, and their income evaporates overnight. Desperate, King stumbles onto an audio recording describing a bungalow stuffed with black money, guarded by nothing but a single watchman. Easy money, right?

They break in. The door slams shut behind them. A voice welcomes them from the dark. The "lone watchman" is Pulibaba, a notorious gangster with a gun and a plan of his own - and his plan involves a phone call that lands like a punch to the gut: "Doctor, the delivery is ready... Eight kidneys." Eight. For four idiots. Do the math.

Let's start with the good stuff, because there's real good stuff here. Vincent Asokan's Pulibaba is an absolute blast - a villain who treats armed robbery like a mildly inconvenient customer service call. The film's best stretches are the ones where he's toying with his captives, letting the comedy curdle into dread. Sundar understands that the funniest moment in any heist movie is the exact second the plan dies, and he milks that second for everything it's worth.

Pugazh anchors the crew with a scrappy, hangdog charm as King, and the four leads have a lived-in chemistry that sells the "we've been failing together for years" dynamic. The lockdown setting gives the whole thing an unexpectedly grounded texture - these aren't glamorous criminals, they're gig-economy crooks who lost their gig. There's a genuinely sharp social comedy buried in that premise about how quickly the bottom rung gets cut off.

The problems are structural. The first act takes its sweet time getting to the bungalow, and the humor in those early stretches is hit-or-miss - some gags land with a thud, and a few subplots feel like filler. Once the crew is trapped, the movie briefly forgets it's a thriller and leans too hard into slapstick, which undercuts the tension Pulibaba so carefully builds. Tonally, it's a movie that can't decide if it wants you laughing or squirming, and sometimes it wants both in the same scene without earning the switch.

And then there's the audience divide, which is genuinely wild: IMDb users have pushed this to a 9.4, while TMDb voters sit at a middling 5. That gap tells you everything. If you click with its rhythms, it's a blast; if you don't, the pacing and tonal whiplash will wear you down. This isn't a movie that meets you halfway - it dares you to keep up.

The climax, though? The climax earns its keep. Without spoiling anything, the kidney twist pays off in a way that reframes the whole caper, and it's the kind of audacious swing that makes you forgive a lot of earlier fumbling. Sundar may not stick every landing, but he's never boring, and in a crowded comedy-thriller market, that counts for something.

Pros:

• Vincent Asokan's Pulibaba is a genuinely great villain - menacing, funny, unpredictable
• Fresh lockdown-era premise that grounds the heist in real desperation
• Strong chemistry among the four leads
• A final-act twist that delivers on the setup
• Brisk, punchy dialogue once the plot locks in

Cons:

• Uneven pacing, especially in the first act
• Tonal shifts between comedy and thriller don't always land
• Some jokes fall flat and a few subplots feel like padding
• The mixed critical scores suggest it's a love-it-or-leave-it experience

4 Idiots is the kind of movie that frustrates you and charms you in equal measure. It's got a memorable villain, a genuinely clever hook, and a climax worth the ticket - wrapped in pacing problems and tonal wobble that keep it from greatness. If you're in the mood for a scruffy, scrappy Tamil comedy-thriller with a mean streak, give it a shot. Just don't expect the four idiots to be the smartest people in the room - that's kind of the point.