The Blind Side Review

Going into “The Blind Side”, I thought it was insulting (and it STILL kinda is) that, instead of focusing on Michael Oher - the homeless teen who eventually became a first-round NFL draft pick - the movie would tell the story of the saintly white family who saved him.

After actually seeing the movie, I understand the decision.

Sandra Bullock delivers a powerhouse, career-best (and Oscar-nominated) performance that absolutely carries the flick and elevates what would otherwise be a completely mediocre sports movie at best or a really well-produced Lifetime movie at worst.

I’m not saying I agree with the decision, but I understand it.

Bullock is Leigh Anne Tuohy, the head of a Tennessee family who discovers and takes in a shy, hulking young man nicknamed Big Mike (Quinton Aaron). Eventually, Big Mike becomes assimilated with the Tuohys and, when it’s learned that he scored in the 98th percentile in “protective instincts” (I didn’t even know they tested for that), he joins his prep school’s football team.

I actually thought writer-director John Lee Hancock – adapting a book by Michael Lewis – showed an admirable amount of restraint in portraying Oher’s integration with the Tuohys. I was all set to see conflict between Oher and the Tuohys’ teenage daughter, for example, or maybe a scene with Leigh Anne’s husband Sean admonishing her for focusing too much of her attention on Michael and ignoring her other children. Instead, any trumped up drama is avoided with appealing scenes of Michael gradually coming out of his shell. (Drama is also avoided because Tim McGraw, as Sean Tuohy, plays the most whipped husband in the history of cinema.) A prologue chronicling the importance of the left tackle in football also does a nice job of setting the stage for the movie.

Unfortunately, that’s where I have to stop praising Hancock.

I haven’t read “The Blind Side”, but even if I had, I wouldn’t sit here and complain about all the different changes made to this real-life story. (And the changes I’ve read about are VERY significant.) I’m reviewing this movie on its own terms.

The problem is that the only thing more embarrassing than the sports scenes is the fact that every black character besides Michael is either a drug dealer/addict or works a menial job.

Thank goodness for Sandra Bullock, who commands the screen and the movie with her force of personality. I don’t know that she deserves to win an Oscar for this role (I saw “Julie and Julia” – Meryl Streep was better. Sorry.) but she deserves a gold star for channeling her charisma and pulling off a nice feat of movie star acting. The movie comes alive whenever she’s in it, and she makes you want to forget about the silliness going on. (Although even Bullock couldn’t completely sell the scene where Leigh Anne threatens a drug dealer.)

The rest of the cast is serviceable. Aaron was a bit too catatonic for the first half of the movie (I get he was supposed to be quiet, but there was just NOTHING there), but (like Michael) appears to come out of his shell as an actor as the movie progresses. Jae Head gets some laugh as Leigh Anne’s son, and Kathy Bates shows up in the second half of the movie to give a thoroughly Kathy Bates-y performance as Michael’s tutor.

Now, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get choked up at certain points (this IS a sports movie and I AM a big sap), but this is really nothing more than a straightforward crowd pleaser elevated by a movie star at the height of her powers.

The Blind Side…B-