Blind Spot
Reel Affirmations 2003
Review by Alex MacLennan
Rating: 
(4 out of 5)
Thursday, 10/23/2003, 9:00 PM
Feature presentation, $9 at Lincoln Theatre
BLIND SPOT IS anchored by an emotionally powerful performance by the starkly handsome James Franco. Despite a reliance on the brooding menace of dark nights, mysterious strangers, and a melancholy voiceover, the intense charisma Franco brings to every scene helps Stephan Woloszczuk’s film approach a status of borderline great.
Blind Spot is a mystery, a crime thriller, a road trip movie, a soap opera, and a filmmaker’s meditation on creating mood. Drenched in an almost liquid darkness, the cinematography is first rate — black nights are never muddy, and the occasional flashes of color are as startling as a sudden glance at the sun. Those flashes are key to the effective pacing and presentation of the twisted plot as well.
The story? Danny is in love with the mysterious Darcy, and is forced to undertake a journey (accompanied by Darcy’s girlfriend April and a vaguely menacing “business” partner) that is as much about trust, faith, and growing up as it is about murders and money. Of course, morgues and the mob enter as well.
The strengths of Blind Spot are its precise assembly and artistic execution — and James Franco, James Franco, James Franco. While the other leads are less strong, a few contrived coincidences stretch belief, and a slightly self-important tone gets in the way, Blind Spot resolves itself with an ending that, in its final moments, is a confirmation of good filmmaking and artistic restraint.
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