Film: The Blind Side
Cast includes: Sandra Bullock (Miss Congeniality), Tim McGraw (Saturday Night Live), Quinton Aaron (Be Kind Rewind), Jae Head (Hancock)
Director: John Lee Hancock (The Rookie)
Genre: Light drama based on a true story (2009)
In brief: When Coach Cotton gets a look at Big Mike on the playground, he immediately sees the value in getting Mike into Wingate School… even though Mike can’t pass an entrance exam. In fact, Big Mike is so introverted that no one can really figure out what Mike’s capable of. Big Mike couldn’t look more out of place. He’s about twice the size of the next largest kid at Wingate, he’s black in an otherwise all-white suburban Memphis school and from what we can tell, he’s homeless. One of the few kids in school who isn’t afraid of Big Mike is little SJ Touhy. He tells Mike that if he would smile, it would let kids know he’s friendly.
SJ’s mom, Leigh Anne, isn’t intimidated by Big Mike either. When she suspects that Mike has no place to stay, she just asks, “Do you have anyplace to stay tonight? Don’t you dare lie to me!” Mike doesn’t have a place to stay, so Leigh Anne makes up the downstairs sofa for Mike to sleep on. When she starts investigating, she learns that Big Mike, who prefers to be called Michael, hasn’t seen his mother since he was little. And there’s no way his mother can take care of him now. In the meantime, some of the teachers at Wingate have discovered that Michael “isn’t stupid.” Of course, he has a lot of catching up to do if he’s going to bring up his grades and be able to play football for Wingate. In fact, Michael even has to learn about playing football… it just wasn’t a high priority when he was living on the streets. But now Leigh Anne is determined to get him the help he needs.
Based on a true story, The Blind Side is a heart-warming tale about how one young man was lucky enough to find an unlikely mentor… and an unofficial adopted family. Without the Tuohy family, it seems likely that Michael would have been just another sad statistic. Sandra Bullock’s Oscar-winning performance was quite good… probably the best thing about the movie. This seems to be the season for movies about oversized black teenagers, struggling to turn their lives around… with Precious being the other. These two movies are polar opposites… with The Blind Side being so sweet, it almost has a fairytale quality, and Precious being so gritty, many moviegoers were afraid to see it. I would have found The Blind Side more interesting if it had been less of a fairytale. I suspect the actual events would have been a lot more interesting... but that’s a different movie. This one has been a crowd pleaser, if not a critic’s pick.
2 popped kernels
Popped kernels for being better than I thought it would be
Popcorn Profile
Primary Audience: Young adults
Gender Appeal: Any audience
Distribution: Mainstream wide release
Mood: Upbeat
Tempo: Cruses comfortably
Visual Style: Nicely varnished realism
Character Development: Engaging
Language: True to life
Social Significance: Informative
