Review of Blinded by the Light (2019) by Markhreviews — 04 Sep 2019

The core story of “Blinded by the Light,” which focuses on the inevitable tensions between father and son, is so moving and so compelling that it overcomes the movie’s flaws. Javed longs for a world outside Luton (a UK city of about 200,000 people). Going against the wishes of his father, Javed wants to leave Luton, go to university in Manchester and pursue a career as a writer. As Javed plots his future, the music of Bruce Springsteen becomes a guide map as well as a personal obsession. Listening to Springsteen on his ever-present Walkman in the late 1980s, Javed learns how to woo his first girlfriend, to assert his independence and to recognize there is a big world outside Luton that he has yet to experience.

Director Gurinder Chadha (“Bend It Like Beckham”) has made a career of exploring the immigrant experience in the UK, with focus on the unique plight of women uprooted to a new culture with little or no access to formal power or personal independence. Here, Chadha seems less self-confident and less certain about her material. For example, the script incorporates a fairly traditional declaration of independence: “I’m following my dreams, not yours, Dad.” But to make certain the audience gets the point, this scene is repeated, twice more. Chadha is on firmer footing when she portrays the broader immigrant experience and offers her critique of Margaret Thatcher’s economic and social policies. There are several subplot developments that strain credulity or just seem silly and unnecessary. For example, Javed has several touching scenes with his girlfriend, only to decide inexplicably that the relationship is no longer worthwhile. But never fear, the couple is reunited before the closing credits, with a Springsteen lyric offered, by the girlfriend no less, as the implausible explanation.

And because the film involves music, there are some painfully awkward scenes of the principals literally dancing in the streets, scenes that make “High School Musical” seem like high art. But the good heart and driving energy of this film make these and other missteps only temporary distractions. The cast of this film also makes the problems with the script considerably less glaring. Viviek Kalra as Javed is outstanding. The other actors portraying members of his family are compelling and interesting.

The source material for this film is Sarfraz Manzoor’s 2007 memoir “Greetings from Bury Park.” Manzoor, who co-wrote the script with Chadha and her husband, is a noted writer, reporter, director and documentarian. His memoir chronicles the impact of his father’s death in 2005 and the ubiquitous presence of Springsteen’s music throughout his late adolescence.

As an homage to Manzoor’s father, this film is funny, sad and consistently moving. At the screening I attended, there were a few sniffles and grabs for Kleenex as the film concluded. Unfortunately, the film’s kind heart and good intentions are unsupported by a serviceable script.