Considering the current trend of Tamil movies, which overwhelmingly favor masala movies filled with glamor, violence and comedy, Adaikkalam makes a lot of appreciable choices regarding what it presents and what it avoids. But the movie also has a glacial pace, especially in the first half, that threatens to - but fortunately doesn't - overcome all its good points.

Anbu(Prashanth) and his sister Thamizh(Uma) are studying to be doctors. They have been raised by their mother(Saranya) and uncle(Radharavi) and so hold a lot of love for them. This love is only matched by their hatred towards their father(Thiagarajan), who abandoned them when they were children. When their mother dies unexpectedly, their father arrives to perform the last rites but Anbu and Thamizh are not ready to forgive him.

By now, we are used to certain things being a necessary part of Tamil movies but Adaikkalam bravely breaks a few such conventions. The biggest of these ofcourse is that Prashanth does not have a heroine. Though the movie tackles a couple of heavy issues, the director has not added an unnecessary romance to lighten the movie or saddled Prashanth with a heroine just for the purpose of including a couple of duets. The lack of a disjoint comedy track in the name of relieving the tension is also a welcome aspect and the lone fight sequence plays an important part in the story. The song in the prostitute's house is the only unnecessary segment in the entire film.

This is a director who obviously doesn't know the meaning of the phrase "less is more". While a picture is worth a thousand words, he uses a picture and a thousand words to convey each point. So even a scene that conveys a single message(like Prashanth's displeasure with his father when he shows up at their house) drags on interminably as the characters keep repeating the same things over and over again. Not only is this boring, it dilutes the emotions the scene is trying to convey by dragging it out for so long. While this is seen throughout the film, it is especially trying in the first half since the story doesn't move forward a lot.

Like Veyyil, Adaikkalam is another of those movies that has sentiments and emotions as its main agenda. Heavy issues dominate the proceedings and the director has handled them with assurance. Whether it is Prashanth-Uma's unhappiness with their dad or Thiagarajan-Saranya's conflict, they are serious issues that are handled with the seriousness they deserve.

It is rare to see so much screentime being devoted to a flashback that doesn't involve the hero and involves only supporting characters. But the fight between Thiagarajan and Saranya is mature and involving and deserves the time allotted to it. It is easy to see both of their points of view and so we see that neither of them is to blame. That makes the conflict more realistic. But considering what the flashback explains, it is not clear why Radharavi waits so long to reveal it.

Prashanth is solid and handles the emotional scenes well. Uma has had enough experience playing the hero's sister and is adequate. Thiagarajan is just as stiff as usual. His inexpressive face and emotionless voice is OK initially but dilutes the effectiveness of the sequences in the more emotional scenes(like the arguments with Saranya). Radharavi and Saranya do their parts well though the former overacts at a few places.