The Blind Side Review
Saturday, March 27, 2010
, Posted by Should I See It at 2:24 AM
Film: The Blind Side
Director: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron and Kathy Bates
Plot: The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.
I have decided that i do not like American Football. I always thought that Australian Rules Football was awful, but American Football is decidedly worse. As far as I can tell, the game basically boils down to who can throw the other team down on the ground the fastest.
Well, at least that's the job of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) on his school football team in The Blind Side. Football coaches form universities far and wide come to see Michael flatten one of his teammates during practice. Why he is throwing them on the ground, I have no idea (the football speak is lost on me). But I guess as any Australian watching a movie about American football you only have to know is that there are a lot of spills, and all you really have to pay attention to is the score at the end of the game.
I guess that's one of my main dislikes about The Blind Side: there's a lot of football, when really the engaging part of the story is the Tuohy clan taking in Michael and making him part of the family.
I am surprised that The Blind Side was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (I don't think anyone thought it might win, but it was nominated so that's enough), It's enjoyable, sure, and there are a few good laughs, but it's not really that different to any other film of this genre.
Sandra Bullock aside, most of the acting is mediocre, the biggest disappointment being Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher. He doesn't have that *thing,* that watchability, that intensity, that power to make us REALLY care for HIM. The audience feels sympathy, but it's more about his circumstances than his character. Which is a shame, because I really wanted to like his performance, I even tried to like it; but to no avail I'm afraid.
Bullock is undoubtedly the best thing about the film. Her performance elevates the film from being too clichéd and saccharine and makes it bearable. Who else could deliver dialogue such as:
LEIGH ANNE'S FRIEND: You're changing that boy's life.
LEIGH ANNE: No, he's changing mine
without making the audience cringe? Bullock's fast talking, sometimes brash, but always incredibly generous Southern matriarch Leigh Anne Touhy is a breath of fresh air.
Bullock runs rings around her co-stars, who try in vain to match her. Tim McGraw as her doormat husband fails miserably. Only Kathy Bates as Michael's Democrat tutor comes close.
Having seen the film, I am still surprised at Bullock's Academy Award win. Yes, she was good, but I am so over people winning awards because “it’s their turn.” Maybe everyone was just so surprised that Bullock could do much more than her usual from com fare that they jumped at the chance to recognise it?
To conclude: Bullock is great, everyone else is so- so, but the film, dare I say, it is exactly what you would expect: designed to leave you feeling all warm and gooey inside at the end.
Should I See it?
Yes, Bullock's performance makes it worth it.
The Blind Side Official Site here
