I put off watching ‘The Blind Side‘ because, quite frankly, it seemed like a bunch of the same-old, same-old. Well, it is, but at least it is watchable.
It is not watchable because of Sandra Bullock’s leading role, but in spite of it. She does a good job with the part, but what’s with all these awards? Oh, I forgot, Hollywood is almost completely politics. Bullock has been around the (acting) block and made some decent movies. It’s time to award her career with an Oscar. Sorry, but I’ll be damned if I support that. The award should go to the best performance, and both Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep were in better and more challenging roles. Too bad Bullock was the only one in a crowd-pleaser.
But enough of Bullock. ‘The Blind Side’ is a moderately true story about a big, unfortunate black child who receives a home, an education, and some love from a wealthy Memphis family. Not surprisingly, the family that helps him is white. I suppose by now you will be aware of the movie and know that that child is Michael Oher, who now plays for the Baltimore Ravens. It ruins a bit of the magic when you know how things will end up (this is why I’m rarely a supporter of biopics).
John Lee Hancock, the movie’s director and writer (adapting Michael Lewis’ book), does what he can with the material. Michael is played convincingly by Quinton Aaron, who has the perfect look of a naive and soft kid in a football-player body. We also like S.J., who becomes Michael’s much younger brother, because he’s very vocal, but other than loving sports and wanting attention, what else do we know about him? Leigh Anne’s (Bullock’s) family seems so flat they are barely two-dimensional. Collins plays volleyball and is a cheerleader and studies, but… what else? We see one brief scene where she leaves her friends at the library to sit with Michael, but all effectiveness is removed because A) we have never seen anyone show an opinion on Michael one way or another, and B) she says nothing to her friends. We don’t require big, exuberant telling-offs, but give us something.
Leigh Anne’s husband, Sean, seems more interesting in real life than in the movie, which isn’t saying much. According to Wikipedia, he owns more than 80 fast food restaurants and is a broadcaster for the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team. The latter is a detail which could have added to the film and I wonder why it was left out. All Sean does in the film is spout cliches and get pushed over by his wife, because she always gets her way. He claims he can only focus on one thing at a time, and the same can be said about this movie.
‘The Blind Side’ really isn’t as bad as I’m making it out to be. There are problems. It does nothing new. Little goes on under the surface. But it is entertaining. The first thing I go to on movies like this is the runtime. Often long movies that are mediocre would be much better if they trimmed off ten minutes, because we could get the same material in a shorter amount of time. ‘The Blind Side’ is 128 minutes, and if it was 115 or 110 we would be on to something. Now, you think, if we trimmed 20 minutes, the characters would even be less developed! Alas, I think not, because that would imply they were developed in the first place. I wouldn’t dream of cutting 5 minutes from ‘Revolutionary Road‘. That would be criminal.
Rating: 2.5/4 Stars
The New Calamity 
My problem is with the subtext. I hate the concept of this movie for the opposite reason I hated the concept of “Precious.” While “Precious” glorified and hyperbolized the struggle of black people in America, this movie suggests that black people can’t get along without kindly white people to help them out. Before he meets Sandra Bullock’s kindly white Midwestern family, he can’t read, he has no room to himself, etc. White America brings it to him.
Granted I haven’t seen the movie because this is the vibe I get from the trailer, so I don’t know if it’s prevalent through the whole ting, but I don’t want to put myself through this safe, feel-good flick to find out.