Blinded by the Light has all the subtlety and finesse of a sexual advance from Harvey Weinstein.

It follows the well-worn story arc of a young man at odds with his cultural heritage, family values and expectations, while experiencing prejudice from a narrow-minded and racist society. It’s choc-full of caricatures and one-dimensional stereotypes.

Set in late 1980s Luton, a working class and ethnically diverse town outside London, it tells of an aspiring young writer from a Muslim Pakistani background who’s expected to subdue his artistic ambitions to study economics and make a living to support his family. Introduced to the unfashionable music of Bruce Springsteen, he relates to its lyrics which inspire him to write about his situation and surroundings.

It’s all very formulaic and laboured; its political statements and observations delivered with all the delicacy of a barrel of rancid mullet being poured over your head. The anachronisms are also impossible to overlook. Unemployment in the UK peaked in 1982 and by the time the film was set was falling fast. Yet we are supposed to believe it was on the opposite trajectory passing 3 million. Likewise, racial attitudes depicted were probably more relevant in the 1970s.

The film’s composition is random, an uneasy mix of drama, social commentary and comedy; a few Mamma Mia-style musical set pieces were half-hearted in choreography and execution.

If you’re in the market for a musical film which far better captures the zeitgeist of the late 1980s, I recommend strongly you look up the Irish film Sing Street from a couple of years ago. You won’t be disappointed.