The Blind Side: The Anti-Moon
By Pete Misiak
WXYZ-TV Entertainment Reporter
(WXYZ) - As hard as this may be to believe, there are films other than
New Moon debuting this week at your local cineplex. One of them,
The Blind Side, is a worthwhile effort that is carried by a compelling story and fine performances all around.
The Blind Side tells the remarkable true saga of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, taken in by the Touhys (Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw), a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential. At the same time, Oher's presence in the Touhys' lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own.
Deftly directed and adapted by John Lee Hancock (
The Rookie) from Michael Lewis’s powerhouse gridiron non-fiction book, this tale of rookie Baltimore Ravens’ All-American left tackle Oher growing up on the meanest streets of Memphis, Tennessee, with a crack-addict mother and a father who disappeared shortly after he was born hits just the right tone and manages to avoid mawkish sentimentality. It could so easily have been syrupy, or condescending, or downright offensive. At worst, it could have been a cross between the Hallmark Channel and
Diff'rent Strokes. But
The Blind Side has a lot of heart, and it also helps that the movie is based on a true story.
For being a bio-pic about a professional football player, there is very little football on display; that's because this isn't a movie about football. It's about a young kid who happens to be good at football developing into an adult. Writer/director Hancock's focus is so determined in this regard that even the football elements relate to his progression.
As Leigh Anne Tuohy, Bullock displays a bulldozer-like personality and says what's on her mind, whether she's chastising her hoity-toity friends for being aghast that she'd take a homeless (and black) teen into her home, or putting a foul-mouthed heckler in check at Michael's first high school football game.
Aaron does a fine job as Michael, slowly peeling away layer after layer of this quiet, yet resilient young man.
Singer-actor Tim McGraw is Sean Tuohy, the patriarch of the Tuohy clan and ideally matched with Bullock; they share an effortless chemistry and are believable as a longtime married couple.
Tony winner Adriane Lenox also contributes a strong performance as Michael's crack-addicted mother, and Oscar winner Kathy Bates shows up late in the film as a sassy tutor whom the Tuohys hire to work with Michael.
The movie's title comes from the description of Oher's position--left offensive tackle. Leigh Ann tells him he’s the guy who protects the quarterback from his "blind side," the sacks that can cripple a guy like Joe Theismann, as we see in the opening credits.
Or, maybe
The Blind Side means having color-blind opinions where race relations are concerned, as the upscale Tuohys--she an interior designer, he the owner of several fast-food franchises--first shelter, then adopt an African-American teen.
It works either way, doesn't it?
Bullock carries this film with her nuanced, emotionally powerful, and compelling performance.
The Blind Side is an unabashedly feel-good movie, and even though its box office numbers will be nowhere near those of
New Moon, it deserves a large and attentive audience.
The Blind SideRated: PG-13
Running Time: 128 minutes
Pete Misiak is an award-winning news anchor and reporter at WJR-AM 760 and is also a member of WXYZ.com's Web Team. A former Big Band singer with Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians, Pete earned membership into Actors' Equity Association in 1982 and has appeared in over 60 productions as an actor and performer.
