When officers Will Bishop and Nika Wilkins respond to a 911 call whereby a man has taken his wife hostage officer Bishop goes against police procedures and enters the house alone without waiting for back-up. As he prepares to enter the house he shoots the suspect in an act of self-defence. However, upon hearing the news many people believe that Bishop (a white police officer) shot the suspect because he was black rather than out of self-defence. As Bishop digs further into the nature of the 911 call he soon realises that there is more to it than initially meets the eye...
Allegedly inspired by actual events Blindfire is a well-meaning film and on a very basic level it does provide us with an insight into the consequences of failing to follow procedures and the severe repercussions that can result in what to some may seem a harmless prank. Despite these things though, I still found Blindfire to be a little bit ridiculous and rather hard to take seriously...
For a start, Bishop steals evidence and goes on a one man crusade to find the person responsible for making the phone call which effectively could end up ruining Bishop's career (or worse). This would be a little more understandable if his own colleagues refused to believe what he'd told them and/or refused to help him. However, they are trying to help him making his actions seem all the more baffling. In fact, as the film progresses it actually becomes more difficult to feel sympathy for him as Bishop (at least on one occasion) abuses his powers in order to obtain information. Like I say I understand his need to find the person responsible, but why go about it this way and why not confide in his colleague Wilkins and ask for her help? It just doesn't make sense. To be honest, Bishop's senseless actions had me confused and as I continued watching the film I hoped that his gung-ho unorthodox approach to finding the culprit would provide some answers, but alas there were no answers as the credits began to roll.
Looking at the positives then it's fair to say that Brian Geraghty does put in a good performance and I must say that I did find the film to be mildly engaging - although I did feel that the way everything was presented was a tad simplistic.
The thing that really sinks this film though is the ending; we don't learn anything of the fate of the boy who originally made the phone call (who was indirectly responsible for what happened to Andre). Then Bishop just pleads guilty before his trial without offering any kind of defence - this may have been a selfless act to try to save Andre's family going through the painful court process, but it's still a poor way to end the film given all the effort Bishop had put in to find the person responsible for making the phone call.
I was originally going to give this film 6 out of 10 but it lost a star because of the awful ending.
Allegedly inspired by actual events Blindfire is a well-meaning film and on a very basic level it does provide us with an insight into the consequences of failing to follow procedures and the severe repercussions that can result in what to some may seem a harmless prank. Despite these things though, I still found Blindfire to be a little bit ridiculous and rather hard to take seriously...
For a start, Bishop steals evidence and goes on a one man crusade to find the person responsible for making the phone call which effectively could end up ruining Bishop's career (or worse). This would be a little more understandable if his own colleagues refused to believe what he'd told them and/or refused to help him. However, they are trying to help him making his actions seem all the more baffling. In fact, as the film progresses it actually becomes more difficult to feel sympathy for him as Bishop (at least on one occasion) abuses his powers in order to obtain information. Like I say I understand his need to find the person responsible, but why go about it this way and why not confide in his colleague Wilkins and ask for her help? It just doesn't make sense. To be honest, Bishop's senseless actions had me confused and as I continued watching the film I hoped that his gung-ho unorthodox approach to finding the culprit would provide some answers, but alas there were no answers as the credits began to roll.
Looking at the positives then it's fair to say that Brian Geraghty does put in a good performance and I must say that I did find the film to be mildly engaging - although I did feel that the way everything was presented was a tad simplistic.
The thing that really sinks this film though is the ending; we don't learn anything of the fate of the boy who originally made the phone call (who was indirectly responsible for what happened to Andre). Then Bishop just pleads guilty before his trial without offering any kind of defence - this may have been a selfless act to try to save Andre's family going through the painful court process, but it's still a poor way to end the film given all the effort Bishop had put in to find the person responsible for making the phone call.
I was originally going to give this film 6 out of 10 but it lost a star because of the awful ending.