Perhaps this is a film that just does not hold to close-scrutiny and that for all its self-congratulatory Christian goodness, it is simply a parable about human decency

Rating: 6/10 (6 March 2010)

This is based on the true story of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), an enormous African American boy who was taken in by the kindness of strangers, given an education and eventually became a professional NFL player. Although he has great learning difficulties, Michael is allowed at the start of the film to enrol in a Christian school. In spite of his weaknesses, one of his teachers recognises his potential and ability to listen and she vouches for him to be able to stay. Yet when he is evicted from his home and unable to live with his crack addicted mother, he tries staying in the school gym. When that closes of a night he is spotted on the street by a wealthy white woman named Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), whose children attend the same school as Michael. Leigh Anne is a strict and forceful woman but also a deeply compassionate one who believes in giving Michael a chance at life, as much as just a bed.
Despite being based on a true story, there is little doubt that director John Lee Hancock's film has been simplified for mass audiences. Rather fittingly, this is a film that could be called black and white given the simplistic nature in which a number of the characters in Hancock's screenplay have been drawn. The Tuohy family in particular is one without deep flaws or conflicts. They are effortlessly clean and unproblematic, as though they are meant to represent the most ideal Christian family. Leigh's son SJ is most obviously a work of Hollywood fiction, given the way that he talks like a fully confident adult, the equivalent of something from a Disney movie, or more recently and annoyingly, the kid sister from (500) Days of Summer. If one can accept these contrivances then they may also believe in Michael's superhero-like skills as a sportsman, capable of carrying an opposing football player across the back fence. It is with this lack of realism and grittiness in favour of a cute family-friendly vibe that ensures that any sense of conflict or tension is absent throughout the film. Even the most aggressive scenes, including a car crash and the smash-up of a slum, run without consequence. It makes The Blind Side extremely easy viewing but simultaneously it also diminishes the reality and power of the story and its subtext.
Given the appraisal for Christian values in this film there is surprising amount of racism to be found in Hancock's screenplay. Some will find it particularly difficult to swallow the notion of a perfect white Christian family saving an African American from all the troubles in his life. More significantly though, there are some lines of dialogue that come across as blatantly chauvinistic and not in a self-critical or satirical way, like in films such as Crash and Gran Torino. The first night that Michael stays in the house Leigh Anne asks her husband whether he thinks that Michael will steal anything. Similarly, one of the women in the film suggests that Leigh Anne's daughter might be vulnerable because there is a black boy staying in the house. The scenes in the ghetto slum are also cringing because one can almost see the gold teeth of the African American gangsters, given that the poor blacks are represented like caricatures. At its worst, the film is almost anachronistic in its own view of racism, especially when a redneck at a sporting event begins jeering when he sees Michael on the field. It might have happened in the real story years ago, but for a film supposedly set in the present, it's simply dated.
There has been no shortage of praise for Sandra Bullock's performance in recent months and like in Crash she shows here what a talented actress she can be, absent from idiotic comedies. The strength of her performance as Leigh Anne is that she believes in her character and what she says and forces the audience to do the same. Bullock is talented enough to add precisely the right amount of sincerity to the corniest of lines. When she is told that Michael is changing her life she replies with the slightest smile: "No. He's changing mine". Contrasting her kindness though is her toughness and the power with which she organises her family. Given she is a rich, powerful white woman it is a believable trait that Bullock inspires with a great deal of conviction. Some of the situations that demonstrate this are less credible, especially when Leigh Anne stands in front of the entire football team to tell Michael how to play the game but on a surface level she at least makes the film mostly watchable. Quinton Aaron does not have a lot of dialogue in the film, which frustratingly disempowers his character, reducing him to facial expressions. This is meant to be about an African American finding his place in the world but because he is never given the time to verbally display his growth in intelligence; he loses his voice literally and metaphorically.
It is difficult to except The Blind Side as a Best Picture nominee this year because it is such a light and unchallenging film, mildly entertaining but ultimately lacking the dramatic impact to make it both thoughtful and emotionally involving. There are a number of outdated elements in the story and some jarring changes in its tone as well. Perhaps this is a film that just does not hold to close-scrutiny and that for all its self-congratulatory Christian goodness, it is simply a parable about human decency. There is less doubt about Bullock's solid performance though, a display of strength and compassion, suggesting that she may well become one of the few actresses ever to win both an Oscar and a Razzie Award in the same year.