02/18/10 - The Blind Side

The Blind Side (2009, 128 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/

The Blind Side is one of three Best Picture nominations I have left to see. I really wasn't looking forward to seeing it at all, expecting a boring tearjerker that was just selected so as to fill out the ten slots. It would also be the first football movie I could remember seeing in quite some time.

The movie stars Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wealthy mother of two, who takes in a down and out black student named Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron). Oher turns out to be a phenomenal athlete and the film follows the development of this relationship along with Oher struggling to be a good student so as to receive a scholarship to university.

The Blind Side set records for being the first movie headlined by only a single female star to actually make such-and-such amount of money. Naturally, this means Sandra Bullock has to carry most of the acting load. The great thing about how the movie is set up is that this doesn't actually hurt the movie. The rest of the cast such as Aaron or the rest of the Tuohy family aren't really known for their acting but the movie is directed in such a way that this doesn't actually hurt the end product. A lot of the time, Aaron just has to look dejected or troubled while being silent so him not being able to deliver some lines great doesn't come off as a negative. Basically, the movie is directed to limit the actual speaking lines of everyone but Bullock since these people aren't really great actors. It works really well as it enables the rest of this cast to have a presence on stage that you focus on instead of remembering them for their terrible lines and that.

Another good thing about the film is that it plays its role of "emotional movie" really well. I don't think The Blind Side was made so as to compete for Best Picture, so in that regard I do believe I'm partially right. The Blind Side was made to be a tearjerker movie centered around a great football story. All in all, this makes it tough to knock The Blind Side for not possibly being as good as some other Best Picture movies, since it really does a great job at making the viewer emotionally respond to what's on screen. I particularly like how the football element of the movie was extremely downplayed. There was only focus on one football game and it was probably the worst scene in the movie. Besides this, the movie centers on the relationship between Leigh Anne and Michael along with showing how Michael overcomes his past. I think it somewhat falters near the end after he's selected Ole Miss as his college choice, but for the most part the relationship and difficulties of these characters are really well handled.

I really don't feel there's much else to say about this film. If you like what it's going for, you're going to enjoy the film. For me, I quickly accepted what direction it was going in and was happy with the end product. If you want more football and more focus on the games you're going to be disappointed. I came in with one expectation and had to throw it away, and because of that I feel this movie will be as good as you're willing to allow it to be.

Overall, I gave this film a 7/10. The Blind Side knows what it's going to be when it sets out and it does an absolutely fantastic job at hitting the mark there. Does that mean it's a perfect film? Not by a long shot. It turns out I was really impressed with what it offered and I've decided to give it a 7/10.