Movie Review: Blinded by the Light (2019)
I can’t really relate to feeling that a particular music artist just speaks for everything you’re going through, nor can I relate to the feelings of oppression Pakistani immigrants had in Britain in 1987–88, but I can relate to the feelings that this movie taps into of being lonely, and feeling like you can’t relate to people around you.
For Javed Khan (Vivek Kalra), a young man in Bedfordshire, this is seen in his love for Springsteen and contrasted with his conservative Pakistani family, and with his hostile surroundings.
Unsurprisingly (I say that because isn’t that what all these movies do?) he finds inspiration from his English teacher (Hayley Atwell).
Though this movie is pretty by-the-numbers in a lot of way, I can’t deny that it’s effective. It’s well written, and features a very enjoyable lead performance. Kalra is hard not to like.
I do think his friend, Roops (Aaron Phagura) is pretty underwritten, though, and that’s probably my biggest complaint. He’s the guy that gets Javed into Springsteen, and he’s kind of just stuck being a third wheel for a while.
But overall, it’s an enjoyable movie with some good working class themes.
Rating: 7/10
