From watching the preview, The Blind Side will likely strike most as a typical sports story movie that is about someone who overcomes their life struggles to play football. The truth is that beneath its overused, yet well received shell, lies a movie that is full of heart and emotion that has little or nothing to do with football. The Blind Side is about the relationship between the Mrs. Touhy (Sandra Bullock) and Michael Oher (Quiton Aaron). When Mrs. Touhy decides to take Michael in to live with her family, everyone has to adjust to the new member of the family. It is difficult for those around the Touhys to understand and the Touhys get criticized for it, but things are not easy for Michael either. Obviously from the previews you know that it all ties into Michael being able to play football, but what allows him to play football is what the film is really about. They even have a line at one point where Mrs. Touhy asks Michael if he even likes football; it is obvious that it was never his dream to be a football star. Is that to say that those looking for a sports movie will be disappointed; not in the least. There is plenty of football in the second half of the film and some good sports action towards the end. The good news is that if you are looking for more than just a sports movie and something that has heart and a good message, then The Blind Side has what you are looking for.
The directing was spot on for the most part. When parts were supposed to be funny, they were. When there was a scene that was supposed to be more emotional, it was. The main complaint in the directing may be the somewhat muted scenes where they could have really made the film gut wrenching, but of course it would have been less suitable for a wide audience. John Lee Hancock seemed to direct it just the way he intended; although we would really only know if we talked to him about it. Maybe some day we will get the honor of interviewing a film director on Dave’s Movie Reviews, but until then we will just have to give the director the benefit of the doubt.
As for the acting, I was thinking that I would find Sandra Bullock’s accent to be completely obnoxious, but after a while it actually grew on me. It do not know if it was because I actually felt with her character or if it just became more convincing the more she did it, but either way it did not distract from the film. Bullock is trying to make a comeback and it is going to take a few more performances like this one to convince me she is worth watching. I was not all convinced by her last few movies, but this one proved that she does have talent which is unfortunately mostly unused. She really need to get out of her comfort zone; and I don’t mean by dying her hair a different color. Quiton Aaron does well as the co-star, but he doesn’t have a lot of dialogue to mess up. The good thing is that the lines that he does deliver are usually very convincing and usually have a good punch line. Hopefully they will let him talk a little more in the next film he is in.
If you are looking for a movie that has a good christian message and can be suitable for most members of a family, then this movie should do the job. It was not the best movie ever and there were certainly some questionable moments in it, but overall it flowed quite well and felt well made. The length of 2 hours and 6 minutes was actually a bit longer than I had anticipated and it did feel like it may have dragged a little here and there, so be ready for that. It has a message that is easy to follow, but is not in your face which is a good mix to make most everyone happy.
The Skinny Version
Raw Score: 778,119
Sharon Movie? Yes
Director: John Lee Hancock
Writer: John Lee Hancock (written by) and Michael Lewis (book)
Genre: Drama/Sport
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Dave’s Movie Reviews
The founder and senior editor of Dave's Movie Reviews. Currently working in the online benefits management industry while maintaining Dave's Movie Reviews. Dave has written over 275 film reviews since the site was established in June 2007. 
Sounds like a good one.
It is one that I am almost certain you will like. You should see it when you get a chance.
I love Sandra. She is’s such a funny and proficient actor. She will come back from this!
Penny –
Thanks for stopping by. I think Sandra has been in a funk for a while, but movies like blind side prove she still has it if she tries. It is just harder to buy it when you see some of the other movies she had been recently. It was the prviews that made me doubt her here, but it turns out she did very well.