Blinded By The Light movie review

MOVIE TITLE: BLINDED BY THE LIGHT

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour, 57 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B-

IN A NUTSHELL:

Did Bruce Springsteen pay for this film? Just wondering. It feels like one giant tribute to the Boss. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve always loved his music. Director Gurinder Chadha introduces us to a Pakistani family living in England in the 1980s. The movie is a coming-of-age story that will remind you why Bruce Springsteen’s music was so powerful. It’s a film adaptation of Sarfraz Manzoor’s Greetings from Bury Park (Blinded by the Light Movie Tie-In) (Vintage Departures) based on a true story. The film premiered in Asbury Park, New Jersey, the hometown of The Boss himself. Springsteen surprised everyone by showing up at the premiere.

It’s pretty natural that people will compare the movies Blinded By The Light with Yesterday since they both feature Asian young men who are inspired by a specific kind of music on their journey to self-discovery, but they really are very different from each other.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Racism and bigotry.
Mean and violent bullying
Some Urdu is spoken without subtitles.
Some disrespectful behavior.
You learn a little bit about Muslims and Pakistanis.
British slang & profanity
You see a shirtless man
Kissing

THEMES:

Being blinded by love, money, ambition, life’s problems
“Where do you stand? What do you think?” – Miss Clay (Hayley Atwell)
“Is a dream alive if it doesn’t come true or is it something worse?” – song lyric
Parent vs. child relationship
Hope
The power of music when it speaks to you personally
Selfishness, stubbornness
Angry and unfulfilled dreams
Hard work

THINGS I LIKED:

Viveik Kalra and Kulvinder Ghir are both very good.
I loved that Javed wanted to be a writer and so we saw the words of Springsteen’s songs circle around his head while he listened to the music.
I like Brittish comedian Rob Brydon and would like to have seen more of him in the movie.
Hayley Atwell is so lovely. I haven’t seen her earlier work except for Captain America: The First Avenger
I used to listen to Bruce Springsteen on my Walkman too. I actually have a cousin who plays keyboards and sings in a Springsteen tribute band!
Cute dancing scene in the market.
Every time the father heard the name Springsteen, he thought Bruce was Jewish. That’s a gag that runs through the movie and made the audience laugh every time.
You get to see photos of the real people the movie is about during the rolling credits at the end. I always love that.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It’s a bit of a slow burn.
The whole movie felt very contrived, cliched, and formulaic. All of that kind of annoyed me, but the ending touched me.
Javed says he desperately needs a job and good grades, but easily abandons responsibility at every whim.
It’s cheesy and cringe-worthy at times.

INTERESTING LINES: