I thought The Blind Side was… okay.
It’s the movie that won an Oscar award for best Actress for Sandra Bullock in case you didn’t know, and tells the story of current Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman Michael Oher – taking you through his rise towards the big time from his rather squalid and impoverished beginnings – all thanks to a generous, helping hand given to him out of the blue by a conservative white Southern American family, led by a particularly strong-willed and stubborn mother, with a heart of solid gold.
In terms of acting, they really had the perfect cast for each and every role throughout the movie. Quinton Aaron impresses as the silent giant and country singer Tim McGraw pulls off the “long suffering” husband with great charm and likability. Kathy Bates weighs in well as the tutor while young Jae Head must be said to capture the young comedic foil to the story to perfection, injecting some great laughs into what otherwise is a pretty serious tale.
And then there is of course Sandra Bullock, who you’ll hardly recognise with her blonde locks and strong Southern accent, but who slips into her role so superbly and comes across so perfect as the ultimate strong-willed, but loving mother that will do anything for her children and who won’t take nonsense from anyone, that it’s hardly a surprise that she scooped film’s greatest award for this particular role.
Although American football is the focus of this story there is surprisingly little screen time afforded to it and the movie instead chooses to focus on the family, friends, social and school interactions around Michael Oher and this is what in the end makes this such an enjoyable human-driven story.
And it is a feel-good story, make no mistake of that.
Everyone who has seen this movie appears to absolutely love it, the women have all shed a tear or two throughout, and even I must admit it is well worth the watch.
However, I do feel that the emotional impact of the story is scuttled a little by poor pacing in places and not necessarily heaping enough emotional sledgehammer hits onto those all important heartstring-tugging moments that are so important to making this movie a success – and this made me feel a little ambivalent at the end of everything when the credits finally began to roll as to whether or not I truly enjoyed this movie.
The point is, that for me, it didn’t make any particular strong emotional connection and thus I get to make an opinon and say that it is well, an okay movie at best. It is well shot, features a good music selection and stars a great cast of actors, but for me is just missing that extra emotional sledgehammer that is needed to make this sad but feel-good movie really, really work.
Still, go see it for yourself and make up your own mind. Like I’ve said, almost everyone else that has seen it so far has loved it – and my wife thinks there is something wrong with me for saying it needs some more emotional impact. Go figure! :P
Related Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Side_(film)