Blindness (2008)

"Blindness" is a close cousin to 2006‘s "Children of Men": A malady besets society (here, blindness; barren wombs in "Men") and a group of survivors including Julianne Moore (both films) must muddle through before they see any sign of hope. Here, the metaphor is obvious … loudly so. Among the victims are Mark Ruffalo’s casually racist eye doctor, Danny Glover’s one-eyed wise man and Gael Garcia Bernal’s anarchistic psychotic. NOT affected is Ruffalo’s dutiful wife (Moore), who keeps her sight a secret. As the Miracle Woman, logic leads one to believe that Moore would take charge. Maybe even take advantage. Not so. She is starved and orally gang-raped with sickening ease, watches and shrugs as her hubby screws a whore, and cries. A lot. “Men” soared with heart, shocks and quite possibly the best pro-life film message in memory. It was alive. Different. “Blindness” is flat, and more proof that good-intended liberal-message films can mimic a Sarah Palin book: All out nonsense. A misstep by director Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”). C+