"The Blind Side"
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Jae Head, Lily Collins, Ray McKinnon, Kim Dickens, Kathy Bates
Rated: PG-13
Despite lukewarm (at best) reviews from critics, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" topped the box office last weekend with a gross of more than $140 million. "The Blind Side" was a distant second with a "mere" $34.5 million. But it's safe to say that at awards time - to quote Bob Dylan - "the first one now will later be last."
"Twilight" is not Oscar material, while "The Blind Side" will at the very least garner a nomination for Sandra Bullock, who takes on possibly the meatiest role of her career.
The film is also a calculated Hollywood holiday release. There's a key scene at a Thanksgiving dinner, a big theme of the story is football-related (note to kindred spirits: the country is apparently in the middle of football season) and a heart-tugging, true life, "rags to riches" screenplay.
The idea for the movie comes from Michael Lewis's book, "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game," which covers the changing nature of the NFL, the shifting of importance to certain positions and the "strategist" approach that was brought to the fore by coaches such as Bill Walsh.
The 2009 NFL season sees the debut of Michael Oher, an offensive tackle selected in the first round of the draft by the Baltimore Ravens. Oher's story is part of Lewis' book.
Writer/director John Lee Hancock took that and fashioned a full-length screenplay from it. The resulting film is one that some may criticize for being typical manipulative Hollywood formula, but others will find it to be a life-affirming, tear-jerking piece of filmmaking.
As the film opens, Oher (Quinton Aaron) has just been accepted to a private school because of his promise as a football player. The bad news is that Oher, an introverted and troubled kid, is more or less living on the streets. He washes his shirts - he has two - in the sink at an all-night laundromat and seems to sleep there as well.
One of his only friends at school is diminutive fireball S.J. Touhy (Jae Head). S.J.'s parents, Sean (Tim McGraw) and Leigh Anne (Bullock), are well-to-do Memphisites who live in an upscale part of town.
One night, after seeing Michael wandering the streets, Leigh Anne figures out the boy has no home. She invites him to the Touhy residence to spend the night. We get the feeling that the strong-willed Leah Anne has done out-of-the-norm things in the past, but the good hearted Sean goes along with her, if somewhat reluctantly.
The "night" turns into a week, then a month, et cetera. Leigh Anne's lady "friends" are somewhat shocked but she is nothing if not one who speaks her mind and follows her heart. She cares more for the kid than the social circle.
The bond between Michael and the Touhy family strengthens. Even though he was admitted to the school in hopes of being the big man on the gridiron, he first must get his grades up to par.
The Touhys help with Michael's studies and he eventually gets a GPA that allows him to join the squad in the fall of his senior year.
The good news is he's on the team. The bad is he doesn't have a knack for the game; he's fairly gentle at heart, although his aptitude tests show him to be in the top two percentile for "protective instincts."
Luckily, Leigh Anne teaches him how to summon the force he conjured protecting her when they went to his old drug-infested neighborhood looking for his mom. She helps him transfer that energy to the football field. After that, he's unstoppable. The fact that he's much larger than any of the other players is a plus as well.
The school goes on to win the league championship and college coaches (played by themselves) come calling. The Touhys are alumni and staunch supporters of the University of Mississippi and encourage Michael to think hard about accepting an offer from their alma mater.
They hire a private tutor (Kathy Bates) for him because the academic requirements for a football scholarship are higher than the kid's current GPA. Bates, as usual is spunky, and if the script required it, she could have played Bullock's mom.
Oher does decide on the University of Mississippi and all seems perfect. Then the NCAA throws a wrench in the works. They seem to think the family adopted the kid not so much out of love for him, but for Ole Miss and the help he could provide for the school. The outcome of that investigation is history by now but nonetheless provides a dramatic anchor for the final act of the film.
The biggest problem I had with "The Blind Side" is the lack of much information about Michael's earlier life. That said, the film is a sure bet to please those who like uplifting, heart tugging, movies. And watch for Bullock at Oscar time.
Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.
