Movie Review: The Blind Side

By FOX43tv.com's Film Reviewer, Stephanie Cooke

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At last a role that Sandra Bullock could sink her teeth into!  Aside from the minor role in the Oscar-winning film Crash , Bullock had fallen into a run of RomComs that showed next to nothing of her acting chops.  The Blind Side gives her a role that she fits into like Cinderella into the glass slipper. 

Leigh Anne Touhy is a white Memphis sociallite/interior designer that knows exactly what she wants and goes after it -- making no bones about it.  Leigh Anne is married to Sean (Tim McGraw), a former Ole Miss basketball star turned Taco Bell franchise owner.  Their two kids, Collins and S.J., go to an elite private Christian school in Memphis. 

Following one of Collins' volleyball games at the school gym, the Touhys come across Big Mike (Quinton Aaron)-- a really big black teen walking in the cold night with no coat and -- Leigh Anne learns -- no place to go.  He had come to the school on scholarship and been kicked off the friend's couch he had called home.  The Touhys take him home and soon a one-night rescue turns into Big Mike joining the family.  They take him under their collective wing and teach him football and let him know that they have got his back.  The family is forced to confront the not-so-kindly looks and comments that come with a rich, white family taking in a homeless, black teen.  In one scene Leigh Anne stands up to her friends and declares him to be her son.

We mainly get Michael's back story in flashbacks and converstaions.  He comes from the projects on the wrong side of Memphis.  Mom is a drug addict, dad is abesent, brother was taken away when he was little. and Michael spent most of his childhood in and out of foster homes.  Under the Touhys' tutelage -- mainly Leigh Anne's -- Michael begins to flourish.  They hire a tutor (Kathy Bates) to help get his grades up, football is going well, and then the parade of college coaches begins - thanks to a DVD that little S.J. puts together and sends out.

It's fun to watch the walk-on roles by real college coaches trying to get Michael to play for their football programs.  Lou Holtz, Nick Saban, Phil Fulmer are among those who arrive in Memphis to personally recruit Michael Oher.  He's living the dream when he selects the family school, but it all goes wrong when the NCAA comes in with an accusation that jeopardizes what Michael had thought was his first stable home.

Aside from Sandra Bullock's excellent turn as Leigh Anne Touhy, Tim McGraw shows why he has successfully moved from country superstar to actor.  He has such a natural acting ability and his charisma is fun to watch as the husband to Leigh Anne's craziness.  Kathy Bates is exceptional, as always, even in this small role.  And Quinton Aaron is not the best actor in this movie but his understated approach is just right for the role.  Aside from a couple of episodes as a Bouncer or bodyguard on Law & Order, Aaron is a relative unknown.  It's probably a safe bet his days as an unknown are over.

The Blind Side is a pleasant surprise.  It's based, of course, on the true story of a Baltimore Ravens player, so you already know that it is going to have a fairly happy ending,  The only thing missing for me is a little more conflict in the story.  Even though it's a true story, the screenplay seemed to only focus on the uplifting elements, leaving out an in-depth look at the challenges this situation presented.  I would have liked to have seen more of Michael's backstory.  What did he go through in the projects?  How did he really develop into such a gentle giant? 

And a little more bravery in writing the screenplay could have turned a pleasant surprise into a cinematic victory for Writer-Director John Lee Hancock.  I was looking for a little more commentary on race relations and didn't quite get it.  The best line of the film reminds me exactly what is missing.  When the tutor announces that there's something the Touhys need to know about her before the hire her, they get worried.  Sean later remarks to Leigh Anne:  Who would have thought that we would have a black son before we met a Democrat.

The film ends with actual footage from the NFL draft as the Ravens select Michael Oher and pictures of the real Touhy family--a spit-fire Southern family that really made a difference in one person's life.  This film has something for everyone:  enough hard-hitting football action for the roughest guys, comic relief from 9-year-old S.J. for the kids, and a good story everyone can appreciate.  The Blind Side is just right for the holiday season.  It's warm and uplifting and filled with comfort and joy.