Blind review

[Westside Steve]

Blind

Vertical entertainment

R. 105 min

 

I guess there are a few reasons that major Motion Pictures go straight to video or pay-per-view. A trip to the local Cineplex will cost you anywhere between 6 and 13 bucks a head not to mention another 10 bucks or so for some popcorn and a soft drink. No doubt the big screen ads a great deal to the enjoyment of any film but remember theres always the risk of sitting among idiots talking to each other. I subscribe to Amazon Prime video among other services and for my 7 bucks I was able to watch a new romantic drama starring Alec Baldwin, Demi Moore and Dermot Mulroney called BLIND. (It was originally released for a film festival in 2016 and sat on the Shelf until a couple weeks ago for general release) Well it wasnt long before another reason for the straight to video option was employed here, first and foremost its not very good. Even if it was it would be no easy task for a middle-aged love story to crack the summer blockbuster line up. One might think this film would have worked better 20 years ago when the main characters were still in their thirties but even a younger cast would have a tough time battling this cheap script and bad directing.

As far as the casting Baldwin is three decades passed his stud muffin prime but had morphed into the arrogant tough guy we saw in GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS and MALICE. Now hes showing his age while Moore, a sprightly 52, still looks pretty good.

Hes Bill Oakley, a noted author and college professor who lost both his wife and his eyesight to a terrible car accident. Shes Suzanne Dutchman, the trophy wife of an unscrupulous Wall Street type Mark Dutchman, (Mulroney) (always an easy villain), and she gets caught up unwittingly in one of his dirty deals.

For her part she is assigned community service which shows up in the form of reading to the blind and in this case she is reading the assignments to the blind. Its no its no great chore to figure out that the two of them will form a bond. My problem here isnt with the acting, all of these people are competent, but with the script and direction which starts Baldwin's character out as starts Baldwins character out as an unmitigated prick and almost immediately shifts to a love-struck teenager . As the situation unfolds we learn that there is trouble beyond just the criminal behavior with her relationship as the hedge fund husband goes from just unscrupulous to violet asshole. I mean really, nobody cares all that much about insider trading. Im assuming the writers feared that his character would not be unlikable enough so they add in some adultery and off the wall segments in which he said beats the hell out of a few people. It makes you wonder why she didnt notice this kind of outrageous behavior before. Maybe it was just the money, the status or the security, who can tell? Anyway neither the relationship with her husband nor with the professor are very believable. Not only that but there are no twists and turns to note and you can pretty much predict the course of events and even though Im sure they think it was a happy ending the audience is left more with a who cares attitude that a wistful smile. Too bad because I liked these three actors and even if they are technically out of warranty might have easily done better with a better story.

C

 

WSS