Ace (2025), is a losing hand

Ace (2025) sets out to be a comedy but tries too hard to become a money heist thriller. I was left wondering why a talented actor like Vijay Sethupathi was roped in for such an uninspiring script. The film is held together mostly by Yogi Babu, who shares nearly equal screen time with Vijay Sethupathi. Mangoidiots rates this one Rotten.

The story begins with Bolt Kannan, a young man arriving at Kuala Lumpur Airport with dreams of starting afresh. Due to a misunderstanding, he is picked up as a cook by Yogi Babu’s character and taken to the city. Bolt soon finds out that his employer, Kalpana, is struggling with heavy debts. In parallel, he falls for Rukku, who has her own set of financial and personal troubles. To resolve everyone’s woes, Bolt takes up poker, only to land himself in bigger trouble with a local loan shark. The rest of the plot revolves around whether Bolt manages to extricate all four of them from these messes. What could have been a tense and interesting narrative is let down by a lacklustre screenplay.

With so many smart money heist stories being released lately, the idea of robbing a bank’s money truck alone, and purely by force, feels quite outdated. The subsequent events concerning the four main characters had potential but ended up being underutilised. Similarly, Rukku’s personal struggles could have brought some emotional depth, but they remain largely unexplored.

It is unclear why an actor of Vijay Sethupathi’s calibre spends most of the film expressionless. There is hardly any chemistry between him and Rukmini Vasanth. The film teases the possibility of a clever twist or a sudden revelation from him, but nothing materialises, and even when a twist comes by accident, his reaction is unchanged. In contrast, Yogi Babu delivers his usual brand of humour and is the one who manages to impress. Among the rest, Babloo Prithiveeraj stands out as the corrupt cop, and I sincerely hope Kollywood offers him more villainous roles. B. S. Avinash, as the main antagonist, Dharma, comes across as menacing, though his presence is not fully felt on screen.

All in all, Ace (2025) plays out like a losing hand.