...fails because the source material doesn't easily lend itself to cinema, and because the filmmaker is clearly out of his depth.
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10/07/08
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Blindness (2008)
39 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 97
Fresh: 38
Rotten:59
Average Rating: 5.2/10
Consensus: This allegorical disaster film about society's reaction to mass blindness is mottled and self-satisfied; provocative but not as interesting as its premise implies.
Rated: R [See Full Rating]
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release: Oct 3, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $2,002,000
Synopsis: When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine. BLINDNESS, starring Academy Award®-nominee Julianne... [More]
Starring: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Reviews for Blindness
It will (and should) make some people uncomfortable, but more importantly it's a unique film experience and that is something difficult to pull off.
10/07/08
Even though it has some problems, I ended up enjoying this atmospheric tale about the evil inside of man, due to Meirelles fantastic visual style.
10/07/08
A movie rotten with the fear that the audience might possibly miss the point if the filmmakers don't hammer us over the head repeatedly.
10/06/08
Moore comes through with a performance that is ferocious in its intensity
10/06/08
[It] could conceivably be shown in a Western Civ course. Like that required 100-level history course, though, the movie itself sometimes feels like swallowing your medicine.
10/06/08
Set in a nameless English-speaking city where people are suddenly stricken with sightlessness, it's an allegory that never rises to the level of believability.
10/06/08
The adventurous should give the movie -- and absolutely the book -- a shot. But if it's not your thing, I'm not about to tell you it should be.
10/06/08
The cool desaturated palette hides the very off-putting but necessary horror that the novel achieved. Despite a solid cast it's a little flat.
10/05/08
A relentless eyesore -- like looking into the sky and having sand poured into your eyes.
10/05/08
...watching Blindness feels a lot like being jerked around for two hours by someone who is so caught up in his own cleverness that he feels no need to explain or justify anything.
10/04/08
I found the depiction of a total breakdown in society's niceties compelling, harrowing, and fascinating.
10/04/08
A ridiculous allegorical story that must be taken literally to be believed even though it's so absurd.
10/04/08
A stunning masterpiece, enriched by the enormously talented Moore who conveys with startling assurance, the excruciating pain of human awareness and consciousness, that sight can ironically bring.
10/04/08
Blindness is a glum, ugly film, and pretentious in the bargain. But, perhaps least excusable, it is a fundamentally ill-conceived film, the visual depiction of a world without sight.
10/03/08
Top Critic
No doubt every reviewer who sees Blindness will dig deep for his or her own special vision-related play on words. Here is mine: Blindness is a film I wish I hadn't seen.
10/03/08
It's the striking contrast between the visuals and the filmmaking that makes Blindness such an odd feature.
10/03/08
Latest News for Blindness
October 02, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Chihuahua to Overtake Multiplexes
Hollywood kicks off the fourth quarter with a stampede of new releases that will test the elasticity of the marketplace. Ambulances are already on standby to rush the high... More...
October 02, 2008:
National Federation of the Blind Picketing Blindness 
Poor "Blindness." First, the Miramax production has had to contend with a slew of negative reviews; now, the National Federation of the Blind, upset about the way blind people... More...
September 29, 2008:
Book to Movie: A Bumpy Transition
Turning novels into movies has always been one of Hollywood's favorite things to do -- but it's a process fraught with peril, as many writers were willing to attest to the Los... More...
September 28, 2008:
A stunning masterpiece, enriched by the enormously talented Moore who conveys with startling assurance, the excruciating pain of human awareness and consciousness, that sight can ironically bring.
More...
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