REVIEW: 'The Blind Side' is a Winner

By now I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of other reviews about “The Blind Side,” currently in theaters, including this one by BH’s own Cam Cannon. I hope you can stand to read one more.

I saw “The Blind Side” last Friday evening with my younger daughter. Arriving half an hour before showtime, I was surprised to see that the theater was already about three quarters full and we ended up sitting down near the front, where my daughter usually begs to sit and I reply, “No, let’s sit somewhere near the middle.” Sure it was a long holiday weekend and people were looking for something to do, but as it was the second weekend, I took this as a positive sign. Word of mouth has a way of killing films that deserve to die quickly, especially in the age of Facebook and Twitter.

Not having read the book, I could judge the movie on its own merits. As BH readers already know, “The Blind Side” tells the true story of football phenom Michael Oher, then a fatherless black teen from the projects of Memphis with a crack-addicted mother and who, despite being accepted into a tony Christian school, ends up homeless. He is seen wandering out in the cold by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, a well-to-do couple from the other side of the tracks, who take him in and eventually make him a part of their family.

With their love and support, Oher goes on to raise his GPA from 0.6 to 2.5, which makes him eligible for school sports and – the rest, as they say, is history.

It’s an incredibly inspiring story of one family’s Christian charity making a difference – one person at a time. And Oher isn’t the only beneficiary, as star Sandra Bullock, who plays Leigh Anne, notes. She says that while it is obvious how much the Tuohys did for Michael Oher, “it was not that one-sided. They certainly did a good deed in taking in this young man in such a loving and generous way. But, in turn, he brought out a side of their family that they didn’t even realize was missing. The family seemed to have all the success and joy in the world, but when Michael showed up, it was as if he was the final piece to the puzzle.”

One thing that seemed to pop up frequently in the commentary about this film was from certain liberals bemoaning the “disturbing patriarchal nature” of a wealthy white couple taking in a disadvantaged black kid, and the “racist” overtones of the film.

Well one, it’s a true story. And two, would it have been better for the Tuohys to leave Oher wandering in the cold with nowhere to turn so that they would avoid being “patriarchal?” Perhaps these critics would prefer that the movie change the white couple to a black one to make it less “patriarchal.” Or perhaps the director should have avoided showing where Oher came from – the projects, populated by some very unfortunate people – in order to be more “sensitive.”

Oher was already a ward of the state. Obviously the state wasn’t exactly doing a stellar job in making sure he had a shot at life. Star Parker points out the obvious:

Our wake-up call should be that the factors that saved and transformed Michael Oher’s life stand in stark contrast to the government solutions we hear from Washington about dealing with our problems relating to poverty and education.

Oher’s story is about private individuals, about personal choices and responsibility, and about Christians.

Perhaps that’s what’s really burning the libs’ toast. The state failed Oher and the Tuohys, who didn’t have to take Oher in, did – with nothing material to gain and out of the goodness of their hearts.

And while there are “racist overtones” in the film, they are there because sad to say, racism is still a part of life everywhere – and not just in America. Sadly, there will always be racists no matter what their color. Some people will always just be – jerks. What matters is how society as a whole treats them, and as long as society continues to look down on such behavior, the fewer of them there will be and the less impact they will have.

Sandra Bullock, whom I’ve always liked but am used to seeing in light comedic roles, shines as Leigh Anne Tuohy, giving a heartfelt, realistic performance as the tough-as-nails Southern belle who never lets anyone see her soft side. I’ve read elsewhere that her performance is award-worthy and I agree – although if the Academy were to nominate an actress for what is truly a family-values film, I’ll be very surprised.

Quinton Aaron, who plays Oher (and at 6′ 8″ is actually three inches taller than the real Michael Oher) is the perfect “gentle giant.” Casting for the role was extremely difficult, and director John Lee Hancock recalls how Aaron was found:

“We looked at a lot of actors who didn’t quite fit the bill. When I saw Quinton’s tape, there was something about him that was missing in the other ones. Then when he came in the door, my first instinct was to hug him, and it was that quality that first struck me. He also has a face that draws you in; when he’s quiet and looks at you with those doe eyes, there’s a story there that you want to know. I just had a gut feeling he was our guy…that we were about to change his life in a spectacular way.”

Supporting actor Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy is the perfect, low-key foil to the energetic Leigh Anne, and Lily Collins and Jae Head turn in fine performances as siblings Collins and SJ Tuohy. And Kathy Bates is wonderful as “Miss Sue,” the private tutor the Tuohys hire for Oher.

I was aware of the “Bush-bashing” moment before going, but I was so excited about the storyline that I didn’t let that deter me. It was a tiny blip. And really, in retrospect, you can look at it another way, as Cam Cannon notes:

It was a federal government building, and W. was the head man at the time…didn’t bother me. In fact, one of Bush’s problems was that the Federal Government grew under his watch, and he wasn’t as conservative as advertised, so it didn’t bother me one little bit.

There were also a few laugh lines that could be seen as digs at Democrats.

I very rarely go to movies in the theater because so often, I feel I’ve been gypped out of $10.50. I would see “The Blind Side” at full price again. And I’ll probably also buy it when it comes to DVD, which is also not something I do unless it’s a film I feel passes the “Caddyshack” test – “Caddyshack” being one of my all-time favorite movies that I can watch over and over.

Conservatives whine and moan that Hollywood ignores them, so it’s important to support quality films like this that do make the cut. If films like “The Blind Side” make money, Hollywood will make more of them. The majority of Hollywoodites may lean ideologically to the left, but money always wins in the end.