Film Review - Blinded by the Light (12A)

You can't start a fire without a spark.

Bruce Springsteen had no shortage of fans in the 1980s, but culturally his blue-collar rock was well out of step with the UK's synth-pop and New Romantic stylings. For Sarfraz Mansoor, a Pakistani Muslim lad growing up in Luton, however, New Jersey's 'Boss' was pure inspiration. Blinded by the Light, the new film from Bend it like Beckham's Gurinder Chadha, is based on Mansoor's memoir of how Springsteen's music fuelled his writing aspirations, pushing him to rise above the perceived grimness of his home town and to find a distinctive voice. It's not a flawless movie, but it is definitely one of the more affecting cinematic stories of this year.

Viveik Kalra plays Javed (the film's version of Sarfraz), a sixth-form college student, seeking a path to university while his immigrant family struggle to survive financially in 1980s Britain. Unemployment is spiralling towards the three million mark and Javed's father - in danger of losing his factory job - is keen that his son pursue a practical vocation like accountancy rather than writing. Javed is on the point of abandoning his dreams, when Sikh friend Roops introduces him to the music and lyrics of Springsteen. It's a revelatory experience - one that transforms Javed's thinking, helping him view his life in a strikingly different way.

For those of us who lived the UK '80s, Blinded does a good job of summoning up the era - social division and political unrest in the face of Margaret Thatcher-branded Capitalism. It has fun with the music and fashions (particularly when its protagonist takes such an alternative denim-and-check-shirted route), but also underscores the turbo-charged racism of the period, with National Front marches and vile anti-immigrant assaults - sometimes literally on the victims' doorsteps. Javed's nightly scribblings are a desperate, angry response to his personal and familial issues, with Springsteen's similarly rebellious sentiments giving him the boost he so badly needs.

The movie also achieves what co-writer/director Chadha did so well in the Beckham movie - portraying the inter-generational dynamics of an immigrant family. There's warmth and depth along with the frustration and misunderstaning, Kulvinder Ghir (known chiefly in the UK for his turns in sketch show Goodness Gracious Me) proving particularly good as Javed's demanding but well-meaning dad. The boy's relationship with his similarly conflicted sister Shazia (Nikita Mehta) is touching too, although it warranted greater screen time than it was given.

The movie succeeds particularly well in conveying Javed's initial Springsteen conversion, a wonderfully inventive sequence set against the UK's Great Storm of 1987. (I won't pre-empt the scene too much, but it employs a technique that gets inside our hero's mind to memorable effect.) Where things falter is in a couple of musical interludes that land uncomfortably between Rocketman-style fantasy and real life, rather than committing fully to either. Even Rob Brydon's welcome appearance as the father of Javed's best mate can't save one of these from being particularly jarring.

The latter are missteps in an otherwise hugely enjoyable and moving tale, one aided by support from the likes of Hayley Atwell as a supportive teacher and Fisherman's Friends' David Hayman as an expectation-subverting next-door neighbour. The movie also benefits hugely from Kalra's likeably dorkish central performance - one with 'break-out star' written all over it. What Blinded by the Light ultimately conveys (cringey bits aside) is the universality of art, where one man's heartfelt songs can resonate with someone from a different country and culture - bringing inspiration, empowerment, even healing. That in itself would be cringing if the story weren't based on real experience. But it is, and that alone makes it worth your time - whether you were born in the USA or Luton, England.

Gut Reaction: While I was willing bits to work that simply didn't, I spent much more time laughing, setting my jaw in anger or welling up. Yes - Javed and Bruce moved me to tears.

Memorable Moment: Epiphany in the (windy) dark.

Ed's Verdict: 7.5/10. While not as sublime as 2016 gem Sing Street, this is a lovable and uplifting '80s-musical-coming-of-age tale in its own right. And its message of common bonds in a time of racist division is - sadly - a very urgent one indeed.