The Blind Side

This may be Bullock's best performance. Ever.

In a head-to-head comparison, one would be hard-pressed not to declare that "Precious" is the better film - it makes fewer compromises and doesn't shy from showing the true ugliness only hinted at in this movie, but The Blind Side is more accessible. It's easier to digest. In the end, both films tell stories of triumph over adversity - a category of drama that uplifts while offering a dollop of social commentary.

Uplifting and entertaining feel-good, fact-based sports drama.

Bullock’s levelheaded acting frequently saves the movie from emotional garishness.

It's fair to say that Bullock's appealing portrait of a strong-willed Tennessee belle ranks among the best work of her career. It's just too bad the movie around her comes up short.

Veers perilously close to the concept of poverty tourism.

Blind Side the movie peddles the most insidious kind of racism, one in which whiteys are virtuous saviors, coming to the rescue of African-Americans who become superfluous in narratives that are supposed to be about them.

The Blind Side uncovers a true story with remarkable realism that further flourishes the heart, humor, and strong character dynamics to provide for an even more inspiring experience.

It is a pretty good movie, but the only reason I am docking so much is because of the things that really happened. This makes it kind of hard to watch knowing what was actually going on.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

When I heard all the buzz about Sandra Bullock's performance in The Blind Side, I decided that I just had to rent the DVD. When I heard all the buzz about papaya, I decided that I just had to try some. Both decisions left a bad taste in my mouth. Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, a plucky gun-wielding mom with a lot of spunk (remember what Lou Grant said about spunk?) One day, Leigh Anne notices a behemoth named Michael Oher (played well by Quinton Aaron) walking around shivering and homeless. She invites him to stay overnight in her upscale home. Now, I don't know about most guys, but if some rich woman that looked like Sandra Bullock invited me to stay overnight in her home, I'd be there faster than a Viagra-laden Superman flying to his date with Lois Lane. However, after a few minutes of listening to Tuohy's junior-high psychology as well as enduring her general all-around annoying personality, I'd be out of there faster than Sarah Palin's ouster from a Mensa meeting. Then there's Bullock's performance itself. I don't know if it suffered from the fact that she was portraying such an irritating person. I was hoping some hulk from the football team would mistake her for a blocking sled and... well, not really. But maybe the fact that the character got under my skin so much says something about Bullock's acting. I doubt however that this is what was intended by all those involved in making this flick. And, by the way, I'm still waiting for the first great football film to be made (the best of the bunch, Jerry McGuire and Heaven Can Wait can only marginally be considered football films).

Upon seeing the trailer for The Blind Side, I had a good idea how I would react. Upon viewing the final product, my suspicions were validated. Its heart is entirely in the wrong place. The movie ought to be about Michael Oher and how he achieved success, but this is not the case. The Blind Side centers around the kind Southern white woman who takes in an underprivileged black youth. Her kindness, not his struggle, is what the movie is about. To the actors' credit, everyone does a good job. The leads are mostly great, especially Quinton Aaron, but the direction and writing undercuts the performances. The Blind Side is all uplift and no substance. When the movie isn't trying to win your heart with its blatant emotional pandering, it's trying to warm it with sentiment-heavy and sitcom-lite humor, a rather nauseating combination. Also problematic is the unflattering portrait of African Americans. In the movie's eyes, if black people aren't waiting for kind white folk to lend a helping hand, they are either unable to support their families or are manipulative bullies. I suppose there is one business-professional African American woman, but it's telling that she is introduced as a villain. There are moments in The Blind Side where a better movie shines through, one with both the appropriate seriousness and sweetness for the situation, but this better movie is largely overshadowed by the mediocre one in the foreground. It is sadly telling about the state of film when movies like this are nominated for Best Picture.