standard-issue crowd-pleaser with compelling performances

Rating: 6/10 (13 June 2010)

It would be easy to be cynical about "The Blind Side" - to point out how it's just another tale of a do-gooding rich white person condescending to help out a struggling minority; that it once again shows a minority at the mercy of the generous white folk; and that it is filled with heart-tugging but implausible Kumbaya moments designed to make us feel good about ourselves and our own nobility. Yes, it would be easy to do that, but the fact that it is based on a true story - that of Michael Oher who went on to play in the NFL - goes a long way towards nipping at least some of that cynicism in the bud.
Based on the book "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game" by Michael Lewis, "The Blind Side" is what "Precious" might have been had it been designed with a mass-audience in mind - a lump-in-the-throat, feel-good crowd-pleaser about a generally inarticulate, plus-size black youngster who's falling through the cracks big time due to poverty and wretched parenting. Only, in Michael's case, he's "rescued" by the Tuohy family - primarily the feisty, socialite mom, Leigh Anne - who not only provides him with a beautiful home and a loving environment but lessons on how to be a world-class football player as well. A behemoth of a kid who's as shy and reticent off the field as he is aggressive and domineering on - at least once Leigh Anne has given him a good talking to - Michael doesn't seem nearly as scarred by his upbringing or as embittered towards humanity as one might expect given all he's been through as a child (he's certainly miles ahead of Precious in the coping department).
True story or not, none of this comes across as all that convincing, and there are times when "The Blind Side" threatens to drown itself and us in a sea of sanctimony and almost constant sentimental uplift. But it also manages to pull itself back from the precipice, at least periodically, thanks to the performances by Sandra Bullock - pushy and aggressive without being off-putting - and Quinton Aaron, who turns Michael into a sweet, likable kid. And little Jae Head ("Hancock") steals every scene he's in as Michael's wise-beyond-his-years little "brother," S.J. Writer/director John Lee Hancock doesn't bring a whole lot of ingenuity to the plotting or depth to the characters, but he gets the job done, which, I suppose, is all one can really ask for from a film in this genre.
As a drama centered around high school football in the South (in this case, Memphis), "The Blind Side" can't hold a candle to the magnificent TV version of "Friday Night Lights," but its inspirational story may get to you anyway - whether you choose to give yourself over to it or not.