Hey folks, Valkor here. Thanks to the folks at Warner Home, I
got the chance to check out Academy award nominated for Best Picture
and Best Actress film"The Blind Side", starring the winner of
the Best Actress Award, Sandra Bullock. Though not a fan of "true-
based" films, this one was worth the watch and Sandra Bullock
definitely deserved her award.
The Blind Side is all about Micheal Oher (played by Quinton Aaron); a teen separated from his mother as a child, bounced from home to home and ends up at a friend's place, who then helps get him and his own son into a Christian school (and having good athletic abilities helped). But Big Mike, as he is called, has worn out his welcome and is living on the streets, eatin popcorn that's left behind after games played in the gym and piggybacking off some else's dryer in alaundromat. Enter Leigh Ann Touhy (Sandra Bullock). She is one firecracker of mother of two, designer, and a good husband. While she and her family are on their way home from their son SJ's (Jae Head) play, they find Big Mike walkin the cold streets of Memphis, TN. Well Leigh Ann ain't havin that and she takes the boy in, gives him a bed to sleep on, new clothes, essentially she makes him a part of the family. Another part of the tale is that Big Mike's grades aren't so hot and he mostly keeps to himself, but it's proven that he's good at football, but can't play or get into a good college until he gets his grades up. Enter Miss Sue (Kathy Bates), who's hired by the Touhy's to help Mike get better at school, to get the grades he needs to not just continue playing football, but to get into a good college. Can Mike overcome his shyness? Can he make the grades? Do the Touhy's have an ulterior motive for bringing Mike in, like maybe get him into the college they support? And will Big Mike learn what it is to be a part of a family? We get all these questions answered…
…Right now. No they don't have any ulterior motives. Yes he does make the grade. Yes he ultimately gets into college. And a big yes he learns be a part of a family. It's not a spoiler, you know how the movie is gonna end as soon as it begins. There's tons more to the film than what I just described and honestly, just watch it.
The DVD also comes with sparse extras including deleted scenes, trailers, and subtitles in different languages. Slim picking, but I think the big guys at WHV are waitin to put out a special academy award special collector's DVD?
The Good:
The story of Michael Oher is a trying one and one that should be told, he overcame a lot to get where he is today and it's all thanks to the Touhy's (and Miss Sue). Though I don't know anything about the people behind the characters, I would say this: It's about time Sandra Bullock gets some cred for her work and she nailed this one. When she's on screen, you don't want her to leave, and believe me she's on screen a lot and she's got plenty to say. I also wanna give kudos to Jae Head as S.J. he works well with Quinton and dude brings really lightens things up. My favorite scene is him negotiating with the College scouts. Hilarious! Finally Quinton Aaron, though you don't get to say too much, you still did a great job, because the face is just so pitiful throughout that you feel bad for Big Mike right from the very beginning. Great story, great acting, and such a heartwarming, tear-jerker with some laughs tossed in, that's the recipe for a great film.
The Bad:
Not enough football action.
The Ugly:
N/A
Again, I'm not the biggest fan of true-based films, but I definitely took a likin to "The Blind Side". Sandra looks good holding that golden statuette and its well deserved because she did such a great job. I highly recommend my fellow TOVers to check it out. So out of TOV 5 stars, I give "The Blind Side" a 4.5. And it's been Valkor tested and TOV approved.
