THE BLIND SIDE

Directed by John Lee Hancock
Written By John Lee Hancock
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quintin Aaron, Kathy Bates


The sports film is a tricky genre to nail. It’s easy to teeter between emotion and sentimentality and more often than not, tumble over into outright treacle. Phil Alden Robinson’s ode to Americana, Field of Dreams and Barry Levinson’s The Natural are examples of the genre as it was, bronzing and mounting a sport (in this case Baseball) as elegiac myth. Recently though, the trend has moved towards reality-based battles against adversity, with themes encompassing the business of sport (Any Given Sunday) or overcoming bigotry (Remember the Titans). In keeping with these themes, Texan filmmaker John Lee Hancock (The Alamo) has adapted Micheal Lewis’s book about Michael Oher (Quintin Aaron), a destitute and psychologically scarred African American teenager taken in by a wealthy white Texan family, who legally adopt him and help him graduate high school. Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) and Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw) then shepherd the bear-like Michael to becoming a prominent college football prospect and ultimately one of the best ‘offensive left tackles’ in the American NFL. So while not relying on the sappy emotions that a lot of underdog sports movies tend to, The Blind Side does spoon feed its audience over-simplified emotions at times and the story, though true, is slightly predictable but its strength undoubtedly lies in Bullock’s solid performance as the head strong and confrontational Leigh Anne. It’s her relationship with Michael that’s at the heart of the film and Bullock plays her with bull-headed gusto. Whether her performance is Oscar worthy is arguable but it anchors the film and John Lee Hancock’s direction is assured, if a little safe, so while hardly being provocative or challenging it works as a well crafted, button-pushing crowd-pleaser.