It Made a Non-football Fan Care

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2010)

I'm going to preface this review by saying that I did not want to see this movie. Why? Because I hate football and because I watched Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott write it off as cheap, overly sentimental Oscar bait. I ended up seeing this because my mother wanted to see it for her birthday and I planned on taking a nap it the theater.
Well, Mike and Tony, you were wrong. This movie was awesome. Freaking awesome. Again, I hate football and did not want to like this movie, but I loved it. So, I no longer record At the Movies. You two are heartbroken, I know.
Story: The story follows the true story of Michael Oher as he was adopted by Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. He bonds with them and comes to see them as his own family. He gets his grades up, excels at playing football, and gets to go to college on a football scholarship. Then, the family gets put under a microscope by an investigator who wants to know why Sandra Bullock adopted Michael, suspecting that she did it so that her alma mater would have a powerhouse football player rather than out of a sense of charity. It is that last part that makes this movie so good, because we live in a cynical society where we want to know what the charitable are gaining by being charitable. It doesn't dodge that question.
The only possible complaint I have with the story is that, under the correct viewing, the story could come off a bit racist. It inadvertently asserts that white culture is superior to black culture. The generous white people save one poor black kid from the horrors of living in a black world. This could have been subverted some by having the ghetto not be uniformly black and the white world being so uniformly white. However, being a true story, maybe that's how it happened. In fact, it does sort of come up as a plot point when Michael writes in his journal about feeling isolated by being the only black kid in the school. So, I don't think the movie was trying to be racist, but I do think some people will be offended. B
Acting: Sandra Bullock's character came under fire by Scott and Phillips as a one dimensional idealized characterture that didn't grow throughout the story. They were particularly harsh on the line where Sandra said that Michael was changing her life, arguing that she showed no signs of that. I disagree. She was growing, but very subtly. Yes, she was headstrong and stubborn and changed very little, but she did grow, and if she hadn't been so persistent then this story never would have happened.
Quinton Aaron also fell under fire, saying that his portrayal of Michael Oher was reduced to reaction shots and that he became an ancillary character in his own movie. Again, wrong! Yes, Michael doesn't say much, but he said everything that he needed to say through those subtle looks. Quinton did a fabulous job.
Jae Head made this movie a lot of fun with his enthusiasm through playing SJ, Sandra Bullock's biological son who immediately bonds with Mike. Even the most jaded cynic will be smiling during SJ's scenes.
Lastly, I knew Tim McGraw was in this movie and I kept wondering which character he was playing. I was shocked, absolutely shocked to learn that he had been playing Sean Tuohy, Sandra Bullock's husband. He disappeared into the role utterly, totally and completely. I had no idea that it was him until the end credits rolled and then I kept wanting to see his character again to see if it really was him, but instead the movie ends with photos of the real life Michael Oher and Tuohy family. Props, Tim! You were able to match energy with Sandra Bullock and were awesome! Acting gets a big fat A! Visuals: This movie did a good job (perhaps too good considering the potentially offensive racial message it sent) of making Michael's world and the Tuohy family world seem completely different. One is soft and pretty, the other is dark and gritty. The football action drew me in, an accomplishment when you consider that I don't enjoy the sport. All around, the visuals get an A.
Sound: The soundtrack felt a bit southern, but it fit the movie and the mood they were trying to send. The foleys kept me believing that there really was a football game being played and didn't kick me out of the movie at any point. A
Overall: This movie is really good. It's uplifting and generally gives a feeling of hope for the future. I hope no gets too terribly offended by it, but by and large I think you should see it. A