THE BLIND SIDE

Posted on 02 March 2010, under Dad Stuff; More Dad Stuff articles...

The Blind Side Movie

While American Football isn’t quite as popular in Ireland as it is in the States (where The Blind Side grossed an exceptionally reasonably $234 million during its theatre run last November) it would be a shame to overlook Texan director John Lee Hancock’s second sports based true story in eight years because of the sport it’s so loosely set around.

The movie tells the story of Michael Oher (wonderfully depicted by Quinton Aaron), a boy from the wrong side of the tracks who finds himself without clean clothes, food or even a roof over his head having been granted a scholarship to a predominantly white Catholic school on the whim of an overzealous football coach.

Quiet and unassuming despite his mammoth size, Oher (known around school as Big Mike) soon becomes something of an oddity to his fellow students. Mostly shunned by his peers, he finds company with the younger kids at school. This ultimately brings him to the attention of sickeningly well intentioned southern belle Leigh Anne Tuohy (Bullock) who offers Oher a place to stay after finding him walking in the rain one cold night. And thus begins the transformation of both Oher’s and the Tuohys’ lives forever.

Despite the typically saccharine feel-good pitch, The Blind Side is actually surprisingly good. As the movie progresses we learn more about Oher’s background – from his crack addicted mother who simply couldn’t support him anymore to the fate of the father who had been absent his whole life – and the stark contrast of his life before meeting the Tuohys.

Gridiron talk is kept to a minimum, so even those with no interest or understanding of the game will be able to follow everything perfectly well, but it still remains central to the movie. As he was accepted to school on a sports scholarship, Oher needs to maintain a certain academic standard; but as maladjusted as his troubled young life has made him, this is something he finds extremely difficult. For the most part his teachers just don’t seem interested in putting in the effort to teach what, on the surface at least, appears to be a completely uninterested student, and Oher seems to plays up to their expectations of him.

However, as with all feel-good movies, there is one teacher who recognises that despite his apparent inability to function within a classroom environment, Big Mike just needs a little extra attention to coax results out of him, and ultimately achieve the grades needed to pass. Extra help (and some light comic relief) comes in the form of home tutor Miss Sue, played by the ever enjoyable Kathy Bates, who is drafted in by the Tuohys as an emergency measure.

As his grades improve so does his performances on the pitch, aided by the love and support of his new family, and soon he becomes one of the most sought after youngsters in the country, leading to the finale of the story – which college football team will win the race to sign Oher, and will it all be above board?

The Blind Side somehow succeeds in taking what should’ve been a fairly pedestrian and middle of the road script and turning it into a terrifically enjoyable two hours, thanks in no small part to the wonderful performances of Bullock, Aaron and McGraw. On doing a little more research into the real life events behind the story of Michael Oher, it does seem that perhaps the movie could have been a little braver in dealing with some of the darker moments in his life, but then it most likely wouldn’t have turned out to be quite so uplifting. Whatever your sporting preferences, this comes heartily recommended.