Blinded By The Light review by Bobby Blakey
I love films that aren’t so much musicals, but use music as the centerpiece to tell the story. When handled right these films offer up so much more than just the story they are telling. The latest, Blinded By The Light starring Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Nell Williams, Aaron Phagura, Hayley Atwell and Dean-Charles Chapman, but does the music of the Boss bring it home or will it fail to hit the right notes?
Blinded By the Light follows Javed, a British teen of Pakistani descent growing up in the town of Luton, England, in 1987. Amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times, he writes poetry as a means to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father. But when a classmate introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, Javed sees parallels to his working-class life in the powerful lyrics. As Javed discovers a cathartic outlet for his own pent-up dreams, he also begins to find the courage to express himself in his own unique voice.
I found the trailers to this film to look fun with the fish out of water meshed with the unlikely music of Bruce Springsteen intriguing. While I am not a big Springsteen fan, I do like some of his music and agree with most that he is one of the best musical storytellers of all time. That shines through so much in this film as you see how it speaks to Javed. Everyone has had that song or artist that they just connect with for whatever reason and the way it is handled her was perfection making it like a performance piece with hints of a musical thrown in. These are risky moves as it could have derailed the film quickly but thankfully they enhanced it in the best way possible and gets you all in.
The cast are all great, but this is Viveik’s show all the way. He brings the perfect awkwardness to the role while switching it up with passion as he starts to find himself. You are on this journey with him and never want to check out. There
are some great moments throughout that will make you laugh and cheer all while tugging at the heartstrings in the best way possible. They have crafted a great story to work alongside Springsteen’s music and knowing the true life impact it had on the writer makes it so great that you will no doubt want to revisit it as soon as possible.
This is a great film that offers up everything you could want whether you are a Springsteen fan or not. There are cringe worthy moments as they deal with the racial issues of the time along with moments that will have you smiling ear to ear right up until the end.
In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including deleted scenes, and featurettes taking you behind merging the music and film together to bring this story to life. Grab your copy of Blinded By The Light available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Warner Bors. Home Entertainment.