TRULY the leading lady of the year...

Rating: 8/10 (21 April 2010)

As a cinefile, we expect two different (and often separate) things whenever we go to the movies to review a film: a) we expect a deep and intelligent story that will stir our minds and drive us into thinking about any number of topics and the artistry employed in interpreting them on screen, and b) we expect to be moved, touched, impressed, rushed, scared and/or any other verb which applies to making the film memorable and making it, more than a pastime, a viewing experience. Most importantly, it's a rare (and I DO mean rare) feat when a movie fulfills both expectations, and it's films like those that make us film critics rush at our laptops and start pounding away excitedly at the guilt-less keyboard. One such film is the one I've recently returned from watching, namely John Lee Hancock's "The Blind Side." The premise is simple and, to a point, overused: poor African-American kid with no hopes in this world and no brains to call his own gets the attention of a white, Christian family who help him smart up, discover his talent and subsequently lead him (through a number of emotional scenes) to success in his area of expertise, usually sports (football). "The Blind Side" is the very same thing. It's a poor kid (Quinton Aaron), who looks retarded but is actually quite intelligent and who comes from an abusive, coke-inducing family in some ghetto finding a rich, happy, white family, spear-headed by a cocky, righteous and brave mother (Sandra Bullock) who gives him a home, helps him find his true self and discovers his latent talent for football, which is born out of an instinct for protection. As the kid, called Michael Oher, grows to love and care for his family, he begins to feel he's their protector, and from such intense protective maneuvers such as saving his little brother from a car accident or protecting Sandra Bullock from gansta thugs, comes out his great skill playing Defense on his school's football team, earning surefire attention from all major colleges around the country and close-to immediate success. All of this while understanding the true meaning of family, love and leaving a troubled past behind.
Yes, the story is quickly growing stale, and that's the reason why it didn't attract me at first. But after Sandra Bullock won her Oscar for Best Leading Actress for this film, my curiosity got the best of me...and, oh, I'm so glad it did. There are two things (two VERY exceptional things) which make this an intelligent, engrossing and memorable film. First, there's Sandra Bullock's performance which I must admit is more-than-Oscar-worthy and which captivated me from the first second she's on screen to the last one when the credits roll. There you see her, crossing a school hallway ten minutes into the film, gorgeous in a designer outfit and talking heavy business on the phone with some associate. Five minutes later, you just KNOW this is a posh, fancy woman with an attitude and with more balls than anatomically-allowable; you really don't wanna mess with such a strong-minded, fierce woman. And after she meets Michael Oher, your preconceptions of Bullock's character melt away into a pleasant uncertainty and tridimentionalism, where we discover a strong woman with a gentle and caring heart, a whimsical and funny woman with a scared heart, all in one. Bullock has managed to take a single character and make an entire film all about her. You end up caring about this character as if it were your own family you were staring at. She's THAT good! The second thing is the dialogue which is as witty, quick-fired and moving as ever. The story is a "tale as old as time" but the dialogue sets fire to the characters and to the plot, and out from the ashes of an overused story rises a phoenix of something refreshing, poignant and with a HUMAN heart we can all relate to. And, of course, most of the dialogue is dominated by Bullock, so you can imagine the quick, memorable, incendiary kind of thing you're going into.
Yes, it's rare when a film is both intelligent and memorable...but that doesn't make it an instant classic. Sandra Bullock and the dialogue give this film a wide shelf-life, but the story (which is, in a word, unimpressive), the typical cinematography and the (uncharacteristically) muted score by Carter Burwell figure among it's low points. This film is not an instant classic, and I can't even say it's one of the best films of the year (although it DID earn an Oscar nod in that category), but it's among the films you'll enjoy the most and you'll remember for some time, complete with a reflectively-smiling face and a sense of fulfillment. You CAN'T be disappointed.
Rating: 3 stars and a half out of 4!