BLINK
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1994 James Berardinelli
Rating (Linear 0 to 10): 6.1
Date Released: 1/26/94 Running Length: 1:46 Rated: R (Language, nudity, violence, sex)
Starring: Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, James Remar, Peter Friedman,
Laurie Metcalf
Director: Michael Apted
Producer: David Blocker
Screenplay: Dana Stevens
Music: Brad Fiedel
Released by New Line Cinema
What would it be like to lose your sight at the age of eight then, twenty years later through the miracle of modern medical science, regain it? Wondrous, yes; but perhaps frightening as well. That which was familiar and comfortable in darkness suddenly becomes strange and threatening in light.
As a little girl, Emma Brody (Madeleine Stowe) was blinded by an abusive mother. For twenty years, she has lived in the dark, until an eye surgeon (Peter Friedman) offers her a cornea transplant to restore her vision. With mingled excitement and fear, she allows the operation, first on one eye, then on the other. Initially, her vision is imperfect--images swim in and out of focus, and she occasionally hallucinates, apparently seeing things up to a day after they occur. Soon after returning to her apartment building, Emma becomes witness to a murder--sort of. She sees the face of a suspect, but not until the day after the killing. Detective John Hallstrom (Aidan Quinn) doesn't know what to make of Emma's "visions", but she's his only witness in what appears to be a serial killing.
For BLINK to work, the viewer has to be willing to accept a rather dubious plot device: that Emma's eye/brain coordination is so screwed up that it occasionally takes as much as a full day before she recognizes a face. Those that find this a tremendously silly proposition will have difficulty wading through the movie's improbabilities. Fortunately, director Michael Apted is skillful enough that his use of such an unlikely premise is masked with adequate flair.
With the exception of some insipid dialogue (snippets of which infect the entire production), BLINK starts out well. It's fascinating to watch as a blind woman regains her sight. Apted tries to present the world from her perspective and, while this is interesting in the beginning, he does it a little too often.
The "thriller" portion of the story takes a while to get going, with the first twenty minutes devoted to setup. When the killer is eventually introduced, it occurs in a chilling scene, helped in part by Brad Fiedel's cacophonous music and some intriguing camerawork. Much of the plot follows a fairly standard formula--cop and victim meet, they argue, then they fall in love--but every time BLINK looks like its going to fall into a typical cliche of the genre, it somehow manages to avoid the trap. That's not to say that there aren't times when things become obvious or predictable, but at least the ending shows a little originality, and the motive is unique.
Madeleine Stowe's Emma is a rarity--a strong-willed victim who isn't afraid to fight back without the support of a man. At times, Hallstrom seems almost superfluous. In fact, one could almost make a case for a role-reversal, with Emma as BLINK's central focus and the detective as her male love interest.
Ms. Stowe manages to portray Emma as forthright and independent, and she adequately conveys the mixed emotions that result from her newfound sense of sight. Nevertheless, there's an occasional lack of passion in the performance, and there are a few scenes where she isn't convincing. Throughout her career, Ms. Stowe has excelled at playing supporting characters. Placed in the lead role for the first time, occasional faults are magnified.
Aidan Quinn is something of a nonentity. His character isn't particularly likable, as is made apparent in the opening scene, but Quinn vacillates between playing Hallstrom as an arrogant jerk and a sensitive hero. The screenplay is undoubtedly part of the problem--writer Dana Stevens constantly has trouble with character consistency--but Quinn never gets a good handle on his role.
Michael Apted, best known for his documentaries (The 7 UP series and INCIDENT AT OGLALA), develops a fine atmosphere, creating a Chicago that is often ominous and strange. Unfortunately, Apted isn't as strong in directing his actors as he is setting a mood.
BLINK is an adequate thriller. It offers a reasonable one-hundred six minutes worth of entertainment, with a few chills but not many surprises. Although this isn't a breakthrough performance for Madeleine Stowe, she manages to pull off the role of Emma in a mostly-convincing fashion. Nevertheless, except for the often-haunting and claustrophobic atmosphere, there's little special here. Considering the general low quality of entries into the genre, however, you could easily do worse.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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