Movies Missed: Sandy Kenyon reviews 'Blinded by the Light'
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- With Hollywood on hold and the release of major movies like "Mulan" postponed, many of us are catching up at home with recent movies we may have missed.
I've been doing that too while looking for feel-good films that were overlooked because they are needed during these stressful times.
"Blinded by the Light" draws inspiration from one of my favorite rockers, Bruce Springsteen.
Springsteen had me forever when he sang, "We were born to run," -- and thousands of miles away, in Luton, England, a young man named Javed Khan was equally impressed.
In the movie, Khan's character is played by Viveik Kalra.
"I want to be a writer, but my family is stuck in another century," his characters says in the film.
Khan is an immigrant from Pakistan who lives with his family in a grimy industrial city during a recession.
It is Britain in the mid-1980s, and all is pretty bleak until a pal introduces him to Springsteen's music, prompting Khan to tell his friend, "I listened to everything. I could feel it all right here, inside."
Khan and his friend are outsiders facing racism every day, yet finding solace in Springsteen's music, much to the confusion of their classmates and the disapproval of his dad, who asks angrily: "Do you think this man sings for people like us?"
Like The Boss, who once declared, "Independence Day," from his own family in New Jersey, the young Pakistani struggles to make peace with his heritage, while wooing a local gal named Eliza.
Like his idol Springsteen, the hero of our story learns, "more from a three-minute record," than he "ever did in school."
That's what really happened to Sarfraz Manzoor, who wrote a memoir about coming of age to the sounds of Springsteen.
Springsteen read the book and enjoyed it, then blessed the script Manzoor wrote with others.
It helped that "Blinded by the Light" was directed by Gurinder Chadha, who made "Bend it Like Beckham." That happens to be a favorite of Springsteen's wife, Patti Scialfa.
"Blinded by the Light" is available to stream, and a BluRay disc of the film contains much more about the fascinating backstory behind this feel-good film.
We need this proof of music's power to heal right now, and it is also a great reminder of how a single artist can act as a bridge between different cultures.
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