Rent Blinded by the Light (2019)

Problems with the boss...both of them. - Blinded by the Light review by Strovey

In all honesty Blinded by the Light feels very much like a movie where the makers have gone the ‘stock plotline’ shelf and picked out the box labelled ‘rebellious teenager fights parents and expectations to follow their own path'.

There is nothing in the bare bones of the film you have not seen before. The clash, the seeming end of the main characters dreams, the uplifting ending where everyone changes their point of view overnight (despite being entrenched for the majority of the running time) and the conclusion the works for every main character with smiles and laughs all around.

Blinded by the Light keeps its head about the bland because it approaches this from a different viewpoint. The main characters are British-Pakistanis living in Britain where the National Front would hold marches in Southall and Luton, purely coincidence would say the spiv-like overlords of these ‘organisations’. This is the strong point of the story. It is not the first British-Asian film made but it certainly is one of a small number if we are being honest. Something I have no experience of and no real idea about so having these stories told is interesting and for me enlightening.

Having said this skin-colour and place of family origin in the end always seem to be over-ridden by human nature, the more I see different cultures explored in the movies the more I see that we are basically all alike. My Irish-born mother has more in common with Javed’s Pakistan-born mother than she didn’t. This is why more view-points more stories must and should be explored. Always.

The acting is uniformly good with lead Viveik Kalra as Javid and his best friend Roops, Aaron Phagura, having good on-screen chemistry and making the story fun, pleasant and engaging.

Stand-out is Kulvinder Ghir as Javed’s father playing the all-important patriarch Malik, Javed’s dad. A role that no doubt started off in ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ to become a full-fleshed out less comedic character. Incidentally Goodness Gracious Me is giving a beautiful full-on ‘nod’ near the end of the film. Alongside his role and diametrically opposite is Nell Williams as Javed’s middle-class ‘right-on’ green warrior Eliza, who even in my sheltered life in the 80s I recognised. She hit the nail on the head. Hayley Atwell as the sage-like figure is the plot driving force but it is to her credit that she makes this 'pat' role believable.

More confusing to this old western white man’s eyes is the homage to the great Bollywood films made for a market that do not always have regularly access to movies, so romance, violence, intrigue, singing and dancing, all fired into the same story. In story about Luton I was not sure if the sudden dancing and singing really fitted properly.

The whole story was clipping along at a fair pace, I seemed to have the hang of it, when suddenly we got some over-the-top dancing and skipping around – including some nice wiggy action from Rob Brydon, not quite sure why or what he was doing in the film but it did not detract.

To my mind it seemed as if the makers were testing the waters with a more Bollywood inspired style-story but just not enough for it to be full-on and so for me just enough to be confusing.

Blinded by the Light is light frothy take on what in reality was probably a tough, fraught time in a young man’s life and the UK as a whole. For me this was the biggest weakness, it was neither one thing or the other and did not have the courage of its convictions.

This sounds like I did not enjoy Blinded by the Light but this is far from the truth. Frothy, fun and engaging there is much more to enjoy about the film than not. Engaging, well-acted, characters in a film well-paced with slice of ‘nostalgia’ for people like me who were in their twenties in the 1980s, it is a fun romp, even if there is more of a feeling of split-personality about the story-telling.

A young Muslim boy growing up in Britain - Blinded by the Light review by LP

A sensitive portrayal of an adolescent negotiating his way into adulthood and caught between the values of two competing cultures.

His love of music helps him through this difficult process of becoming along with his passion to become a writer.

An inspiring real life story of wanting to escape from the mundane inner city life.

Enjoyable skate across the surface of the 1980s. - Blinded by the Light review by TE

A pretty good entry into the field of 'coming of age' films set in Britain in the 1980s.

The backdrop of Thatcherite economics (no jobs and no hope) and the National Front (racism and violence) is very well captured. However, the film mainly treads the path of youthful optimism and ignores the truly darker side of life. "Blinded by the Light" indeed. We are never left in any doubt about the cheery outcome.

The film makes a convincing case for the universal appeal of Bruce Springsteen's music. In keeping with the general tone, it is the anthemic songs that are foregrounded as opposed to the bleaker material, like the 'Nebraska' album.

Fun, enjoyable, although somewhat predictable. - Blinded by the Light review by tm

Lots of smiles, great music.. basically a feel good movie..

A few stereotypes and predictable finish, but then that’s what we like, sometimes. 

Born to run - Blinded by the Light review by JB

A nice film with good music about a teenage British Muslim growing up in Luton .He is torn between obeying his fathers Muslim code and trying a more western life once he discovers Bruce Springsteen. The lyrics to the songs of BS seem to mirror how he feels about Luton and wanting to get out of the place .He wants to be a writer and is quite good ,and is encouraged by a teacher.Of course there is a love interest and the National Front make an appearance being Luton.All ends well with him going to University and getting on great with his dad. I enjoyed it .JB

An earlier age - Blinded by the Light review by JH

I found this an interesting picture of life for an Asian young man growing up in a culture alien to his parents’ generation. I really enjoyed it, including the music!

A bit of a gem - Blinded by the Light review by SW

It is a bit of a corny film and yes its plain daft when the good people of Luton launch into a Springsteen number but I really liked Blinded by the Light. Its well acted, the film moves with pace and if we have seen these characters before in say Bend it Like Beckham then I think that's ok. Its a lot better than Yesterday and I found it to be quite emotional at times. Its a good family film (older teens) and I would recommend it.