‘Sight’ Review – See It Before It’s Gone?
Angel Studios has found itself on a bit of a role in the past year. Sound of Freedom was an unexpected hit and the studio became a new voice in faith-based independent cinema and for character-driven dramas based in reality.
Sight is along those lines, but it has the disadvantage of living in the giant shadow cast by Sound and the more recent Cabrini despite how much they all have in common.
Based on the true story, the film follows the life and career of renowned eye physician Dr. Ming Wang (Terry Chen) who developed a cure for a form of blindness.
The trailer would have you believe an Indian child named Kajal (Mia Swami-Nathan) is the focus of the plot, but that isn’t so. Sight is a more rounded biopic covering the early years of Wang and his journey to America.
The blind girl is more of a dramatic catalyst for his life-changing research whereas the real heart of the story is Wang’s family, including his nitwit brother, and his longing for his lost love, Lili (Sara Ye), whom he hasn’t seen since his teenage years but still has visions of.
You see, Lili was taken off the street by revolutionary agitators staging an uprising in the region of China Wang called home, and was never heard from again. These people were making everyone’s lives hell for years.
His muse but also a ghost haunting him, scenes involving Lili throughout the movie offer moments that go from moving to tense and harrowing when the Maoist rebels show up to push people around and destroy property.
These historical bits border on the hallmarks of political thrillers and are one of the most interesting parts of Sight. Occasions of Wang seeing Lili in his bedroom and at work venture into supernatural territory are equally good.
Sadly, these scenes which are filmed, lit, and staged well, are few and go away after a while. The rest of the movie depends on light comedy and Wang’s struggle to get into college – the usual teen drama tropes.
Terry Chen stands out and carries the load substantially, but he only plays the doc in the present day. The rest of the cast is capable – minus a few exceptions in small roles – without upstaging him.
Greg Kinnear is a big part of the marketing – and a potential reason this project got funding – though he’s not in much of it. Playing Wang’s colleague and confidant (Dr. Misha Bartnovsky), he’s ‘the friend’, no more or less, and could be cut without changing anything.
I was looking forward to Sight, hoping it would be another alternative to the mixed bag we keep getting in theaters and on streaming, in keeping with Angel Studios’ output so far.
However, I left a mostly vacant theater with a shrug. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t terrible per se – and certainly was high and above your average Pure Flix release. It was ‘just okay,’ as the casuals would say.
You won’t miss out on much if you save your money and wait to rent or stream Sight.
NEXT: ‘X-Men ’97’ Review – As Good As It Can Be Under The Circumstances
Sight
PROS
- Terry Chen as the lead.
- Dramatization of Ming Wang's life in China before medicine.
- Cinematography and mise-en-scene in the darker moments.
CONS
- Kinnear is underutilized though his character is a big deal in Ming Wang's practice.
- A few wooden performances by minor players.
- They try but don't reach the level of Cabrini or Sound of Freedom.
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