Just saw the movie again but I am away on vacation so I decided to ask and talk about it.

You mean playing with monitor turned off?

Hey now, maybe Eli could still see vague light and shadows...so just throwing a thin white pillowcase over the monitor would probably be enough.

...I re-watched part of that movie recently as well, and despite the fact it's not that great of a film (it has good moments, just not overall that great), it did make me think of Fallout, for sure. I don't know about a build based on Eli tho...high Agility and Perception for sure tho. heh.

Maybe a high perception and four eyed trait with a high melee skill to start with.

Any nice looking blades in the game?

There is a unique machete called the liberator obtained in nelson I believe. He had a machete, right? Maybe chances knife? Hmm for an ELI type how bout:

High Survival, of course.
High Melee of course
Travel Light, he does alot of walking / running
Silent Running, there's a few scenes where he just sneaks by his enemies.

that's all i got for now, but it would be cool to gimp the character a bit on account of the blindness. Not really sure how to do this aside from nerfing perception, but in the movie he WAS very perceptive, so I'm not sure it makes sense.

You cant set perception to 0.
So it just wouldnt work.

From what I can gather this is what I would do if I'm building an Eli character.

Traits Good Natured, Four Eyes (Authority Shades are a must or it kills the purpose of the build)

Str 5
Per 7
End 5
Char 6
Int 5
Agil 5
Luck 7

Tags, Melee, Guns, Survival/Speech

Other suggestions
Machete Gladius is a must you can either get the unique version from Dead Sea or get a regular one from Cottonwood Cove either by using the truck or Sneak Killing a high Legion Member.
Caravan Shotgun, Thats the closest thing to his shotgun that I could think of.
The easiest way to find Authority Shades is South east of Nipton.

He also had a 9mm pistol. What about apparel other than the authority glasses?

The Authority Shades are the closest thing to Eli's glasses in the game. I don't think any of the other glasses come close.

I meant as in clothing.

There are no clothes that look like Eli's modern version of dockers+shirt+light hooded rainjacket, or whatever it was. You could try the cowboy duster or wasteland wanderer, but the latter's hoodie is kind of pink, so not fitting.

You could also make your own Eli outfit via the GECK if you're that determined.

Edit: sorry, it's actually called the Bounty Hunter Duster. http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Bounty_hunter_duster