Date Released: November 20, 2009
Director: John Lee Hancock
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw, Jae Head, Kathy Bates
Genre: Sports Drama
Rating: 7.7/10 (IMDB.com)
The "Blind Side" is a film based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. "The Blind Side" tells the story of professional football player Michael "Big Mike" Oher (Aaron) who grew up in impoverished environments of Memphis, Tennessee and was eventually taken in by Leigh Ann (Bullock) and Sean Tuohy (McGraw) and molded into a superior football player.
Oher, living homeless on his friends couch, is admitted to Wingate Christian Academy due to his athletic ability. Oher, struggling to fit in and still living homeless is approached by Leigh Ann Tuohy who offers to take care of him. Slowly, Michael becomes a member of the Tuohy family. Eventually, Oher is allowed to join the school football team after his grades improve. When Leigh Anne Tuohy suggests that Oher tap into his "protective instincts" and regard his teammates as he would members of his family, Oher dominates on the field. As the film progresses, more and more information about Oher's life is revealed including that his biological mother was a drug addict. Oher, being recruited by the top football colleges across the country, works hard to obtain a 2.5 GPA so he can be eligible for a football scholarship. Oher eventually accepts a scholarship to Ole' Miss while the NCAA begins to investigates the Tuohy family for NCAA violations due to their booster involvement with Ole' Miss.
I was mildly entertained by this film. I can't help but state that my true feelings while watching this story unfold were that the Tuohy family weren't just taking care of Oher for nothing. The Tuohy's being alumni's and being involved with booster activities at Ole' Miss kind of spells it out for me that they were taking care of Oher so they could convince him to play there. The movie does not portray this notion entirely. With that being said, the story itself of an impoverished foster child overcoming his tumultuous past to go on and make millions of dollars as a professional football player satisfied me. Sandra Bullock won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy. I hate to sound negative, but I thought she was good in the film, but not worthy of an award or even a nomination in my opinion. The child who plays the Tuohy's son is one of the most annoying child actors I've ever seen.
My Rating: 6.8/10
Currently Airing on HBO
Posted by Matt
I haven't seen this movie, but I've heard similar things that this is a very romanticized version of the story. I have also heard that Bullock did not deserve an Oscar, but those awards are all about politics and TV ratings, and I didn't expect much from that situation. "The child who plays the Tuohy's son is one of the most annoying child actors I've ever seen." Hahaha, child actors are the worst!
ReplyDeleteTim McGraw is in this? As in, country singer Tim McGraw? That's annoying.
ReplyDeleteYes, the country singer Tim McGraw is in this. He wasn't that bad in it to be honest.
ReplyDeleteI actually thought this movie was very good. I agree with you though, Sandra Bullock wasn't anything spectacular in this movie. Funny that she won an Academy Award for this movie and at the same time won a Razzie for a different one.
ReplyDelete