The Boss of Us All: Blinding Brilliance

Movie Reviewed: Blinded By The Light

Director: Gurinder Chadha

Date: 3 May 2020

jamesintexas Rating: ***1/2

On HBO

In a two week span, I saw Gurinder Chadha's Blinded By The Light and Tom Hanks's That Thing You Do!, and though the films differ in their time periods, musical styles, and overall aesthetic, both films lovingly depict the idea of fandom and stardom in ways that appeal directly to the heart.  Here, a 1987 British boy in Nowhere-ville Luton, the son of Pakistani immigrants, is hit with the lightning bolt of rock-n-roll music when a new acquaintance Roops at his HS (Aaron Phagura) hands him cassette tapes of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA album," and his life is never the same.  Javed asks, "Who's that?"  Roops replies, "The Boss."  Javed wonders, "Whose boss?"  Roops responds wisely, "The boss of us all."

Javed (Viveik Kalra) struggles living with anti-immigrant sentiment in his neighborhood, an overbearing father who wants to chart his path for him, and the sinking sensation that he is not cool and never will be.  Chadha places the words to Springsteen's songs directly on the screen as Javed is physically moved by them, dancing outside of his home to "Dancing in the Dark" with a fervor.  Javed becomes transformed by Springsteen's ethos, finding concordances in its depictions of striking out on your own, capitalism gone amok, wanting more from a place that seems all about defining and confining him. Javed wants to be a writer, so he starts finding ways to pursue his craft, and he becomes brave by wooing his classmate/activist Emma (Kit Reeve) through singing Springsteen lyrics.  Chadha has the characters frequently break out in songs within the confines of the world that they are in, and though it is jarring, she makes it work by depicting the effervescence of these young people and their complete exuberance.

And that exuberance comes up against the stark realities of racism, a broken economy, and deep, stubborn pride as Malik (Kulvinder Ghir), Javed's father, struggles with being out of work himself and thrown into a strange place within his family dynamic.  He collects the money from everyone, including Javed, while not being able to find work.  Noor (Meera Ganatra) Javed's mother has to take on increasingly more sewing work late through the night to make ends meet.  The film is an exploration of a father-son dynamic that is both familiar and original, as Javed realizes truths about his father's own immigrant experience of leaving Pakistan to move to London but only after perhaps going excessively far in his Springsteen worship, so much so that he leaves a family event at a crucial moment that collides with the turbulent forces marching down their streets.  But Javed is being true to himself and his newfound identity through Bruce Springsteen and through writing.  Through it all, Javed tries to write, has conversations with his English teacher about his future, and crafts lyrics for his neighbor-friend Matt (Dean-Charles Chapman), a singer in a band.  A protest at a local mosque becomes a chance for him to get a by-line while also driving a wedge between him and Malik, who sees his writing as frivolous at best and hurtful to his community at worst.

I like that the film does not culminate in a big Bruce Springsteen concert or meet-up.  Instead, a sojourn to New Jersey marks a major turning point for Javed and Roops in their hero worship.  Malik is not a one-dimensional character, but instead a man struggling with his own identity in his fifties, and the scenes with Noor have a poignancy to them because these are two people who love each other and are experiencing great pain.  Javed's final speech is a thing of great beauty and heart-breaking emotion that I found incredibly affecting.  Chadha's direction here is confident and powerful, and she earns the emotion achieved in these final scenes because these are fully formed characters with flaws.  I also cannot say enough about Viveik Kalra's wonderful performance, and Aaron Phagura is completely memorable as his gateway-to-Springsteen friend Roops.  I want to see the movie about Roops next.  Blinded By The Light offers a glimpse into Javed's relationship with his sister Shazia (Nikita Mehta) who also has a secret musical obsession, and the film would have been better served by giving her more to do and more conversations with her brother.  Ultimately, the film's sincerity, its terrific cast, its exuberance, and its heart makes me rank it among the best films of 2019.