4th Down & Long

Rating: 4/10 (15 February 2020)

Fondue, Margherita Pizza & The Blind Side... 3 of the cheesiest things to ever grace this world. The Blind Side takes a heartwarming, charming story and turns the cringe up to a solid 10/10.
The story takes us through the life of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) as he meets Sandra Bullock's Leigh Ann and has his life drastically turned around for the better. The narrative is the most alluring aspect of this movie, with the 'real-life' story of Michael and Leigh Ann's relationship providing most of the sentimentality. Michael is a loveable, gentle-giant that you instantly warm up to and Sandra Bullock provides a career best performance as the no-nonsense, (very) southern, cheerleader mom who takes Michael into her family home and under her wing.
Unfortunately, that's where the praise ends. The boring cinematography and the laughable score, reeked of TV Movie standards and at some points the film felt like a Disney Channel Original Film (and not a good one). The script was held back by it's cheesy dialogue and forceful attempts at humour (including an uncomfortable James Corden esque Carpool Kareoke that goes horribly wrong). The script offers no surprises and follows a very formulaic rythm, with most of the film being very easy to predict.
Despite Sandra Bullock performing at her best, the cast still left a lot to be desired. RJ (Jae Head) was just wholly annoying ; the writer clearly not being able to write for kids, and Lily Collins' coincidentally named 'Collins' was a blank canvas of a character. The only stand out performance was a brief cameo from Kathy Bates -who is always brilliant- whereas the rest of the supporting cast seemed to be exaggerated caricatures (Including some scenes of Bullock's Leigh Ann).
A corny score, cheesy dialogue, ridiculous characters, vapid acting and a predictable narrative leaves the Blind Side fumbling on a 4th down and long.
4/10.