> The Blind Side
4 stars (out of 5)
Director: John Lee Hancock
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Jae Head, Lily Collins, Ray McKinnon, Kathy Bates
Rating: (PG)
When I learned that Sandra Bullock had won an Oscar for her performance in The Blind Side (Rialto), I was unimpressed. Now that I have seen it, I fully understand why she did.
Bullock has likeability in spades but no real range. The role of pushy Southern belle Leigh Anne Tuohy is custom made for her.
She gets to try out an accent, move a little out of her comfort zone and still remain recognisably lovable Sandra. Add to that, the feel-good factor of the true story of a white Southern family who adopt a homeless black boy and help him become a successful gridiron player and you have perfect Oscar bait.
The Blind Side is the sort of film that has to be based on a true story because if you made it up you would be laughed out of town.
Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) had a drug-addicted mother, an unknown father and numerous half-siblings. There was only one direction his life was going except he got lucky.
Admitted into a private Christian school as an act of charity he aroused the interest and soon the love of Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) and her family.
While presenting as Precious-lite, The Blind Side has tremendous watchability which helps skim over those awkward moments when the elephant in the room seems about to break something.
Best thing: We should hate these people for their whiteness, their money and their smugness except they frequently display an irony about themselves that is supposedly beyond Americans.
Worst thing: It does come across as a Reader's Digest television movie.
See it with: Hankies. If you are a blubberer you will be happily weeping within five minutes.
- Christine Powley
