When I heard the description of The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock’s newest starring vehicle, it didn’t sound in the least bit appealing.  I have seen my fair share of heart-warming, come-from-behind sports movies (and even volunteered as an extra in Remember the Titans), and didn’t feel any particular pull toward seeing another.  But the media push was nothing if not persistent, and the more I learned about the movie and the family it is based upon, the more I was drawn to it.  Based on the bestselling book written by Michael Lewis in 2006, the movie follows the Touhys, middle class Republicans, Ole Miss Alumni, and charitable Christians.

Michel Oher was a high school senior with nowhere to sleep when Leigh Anne Touhy saw him walking down the road in the rain.  She invites him home, and as the movie unfolds one day leads to another until Michel becomes a member of the family.  The two perfect biological children, over-achieving daughter Collins and spitfire son S.J., accept him as their sibling like ducks take to water, with only the slightest hint of conflict with schoolmates.  The movie is funny, and captures Michael’s gradual relaxation into his new life well.  I liked that it did not flinch away from the extreme measures taken by Michael and the Touhys to qualify him for, first high school then college, football.  They aren’t pretending that they did not push him, but they are spinning the process to imply it was all for his own good.

Perhaps it was all for his own good.  But the uneasiness that I felt at their methods was the only thing that balanced out that dreaded overdose of touching moments. Overall, it’s definitely worth seeing and if you’re anything like me, you will stay through the credits to see real life pictures of Oher and his family.  Sandra Bullock is a blast to watch as she bosses around everyone she comes in contact with.

Rating:  

Submit this

Hide Sites