The Blind Spot

The most enduring feeling from watching The Blindspot is that of overwhelming pity for the poor soul who had the misfortune of watching this at the cinema. The person who had to drive all the way over there, stand in line for tickets, get popcorn and go get seated only to be met with this? My sincere condolences.

The movie “The Blindspot” is about a young man and his fiance who eventually becomes his wife. She refuses for him to touch her prior to the wedding, but for some reason even after the wedding he finds himself incapable of consummating their union. It’s not a premise that we are not familiar with. In fact, based on the synopsis alone, the Frederick Leonard starrer – Before Getting Married – comes to mind. However, unlike that one, The Blindspot, actually has some surprises in its storyline that if done right could have resulted in a much better film than the final result. Instead, by the time the surprises here reveal themselves half the audience has already stopped watching while the other half are waiting for it to be over.

But the story was not the only thing wrong with the movie. From the lazy writing, to inconsistent audio quality, to shaky camera scenes, to overpowering background music and unintentionally amusing actors, it seemed as though the movie was on a mission to check-off all possible faults. There was a scene in this movie where Rita’s character looks at her fiance/husband and consciously states the words “make me your only sunshine” – and it wasn’t intended as sarcasm, irony or satire. It was real! That was the beginning of the end for me.

It’s difficult to fathom how the two leads in this movie got roped into a storyline like this. I mean this is a movie starring Rachel Oniga in the present time that decides to do a flashback to a time 30 years in the past but still casts Rachel Oniga (as she currently looks) as the same character? Apparently even 30 years ago she was still an aged woman – just an aged woman with awkward braids and shorter dresses. And if you think that’s the height of ridiculousness then you have not seen Etinosa’s character in this. From scene to scene, it’s hard to decipher what prompt she is working off of. She goes from unconvincing strip teases to even more unconvincing lovelorn scenes and finally to a confusing warp of drug addict/perpetual drunk. And yet she was one of the better supporting acts. It’s as though all the actors asides the leads and Oniga, are using us to learn work.

By the time the end credits rolled around, I couldn’t help thinking that this movie might have been better suited as a thread on twitter instead.