Blinded by the Light (2019)


Director: Gurinder Chadha
Stars: Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra
Runtime: 118 minutes

Synopsis: In England in 1987, a teenager from an Asian family learns to live his life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of American rock star Bruce Springsteen.

Performances: 3/5
Screenplay: 2/5
Editing: 3/5
Cinematography: 3/5
Score/Soundtrack: 4/5

Verdict: "Blinded by the Light" was fine. It didn't reinvent the wheel and it wasn't groundbreaking in any way, it was just fine.
Directed by Gurinder Chadha (who also gave us "Bend It Like Beckham"), the film follows Javed as his dreams of becoming a writer are halted by his family's traditional morals. I won't deny that the film's messages and themes are important to tackle and talk about, and the inclusion of Bruce Springsteen's music definitely added to the impact of art in a journey of self-discovery, but I sadly found all of these messages to be delivered in a quite cheesy, even at times forced way. Subtlety and originality both in the technical and storytelling fields were unfortunately lacking, and I found myself more than once being taken out of the movie because of it. The few attempts at humor also didn't entirely work for me, and the performances were just like the movie as a whole, just fine. I did however find that the film had a lot of heart, and sometimes that's enough to entirely carry an entire movie.
I wasn't blown away by "Blinded by the Light", but it did have its moments and something to say. It's a movie I definitely don't regret watching, but one I can't see myself revisiting any time soon.  

FINAL GRADE: 5/10

Comments