'I haven't changed your life, you've changed mine.'

Rating: 8/10 (24 March 2010)

BLIND SIDE is a quiet little film, one of the type we usually see on Hallmark Hall of Fame on television, that carries a tender message without really offending anyone or challenging the mentality of the viewer. It just happens to be based on a book by Michael Lewis who in turn based his writing on a true story 'the story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy ho became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.' John Lee Hancock adapted the novel for the screen and directed it. He scored a hit when he decided to cast Sandra Bullock as the brave society no nonsense mother Leigh Anne Tuohy, giving Bullock the opportunity to polish her acting chops to a fare-thee-well. Tim McGraw is very strong as the husband/father Sean Tuohy and the two young actors who play the biological Tuohy children - Jae Head and Lily Collins - are equal to their 'parents' performances. Quinton Aaron is the quiet pacifist Michael Oher who is taken into the household of a Southern family as an equal in Memphis Tennessee where racial bias still exists. It is the transformation of Michael as well as the florid transformation of the Tuohy family (especially the brilliantly realized Leigh Anne) that makes this little film glow. Kathy Bates makes a brief cameo as a tutor for Michael and Ray McKinnon makes his role as the coach credible. And the rest of the cast offer of a very high quality of support.
BLIND SIDE is not a great movie, just as 'PRECIOUS etc etc etc' is not a great movie: at the core of both of these films are the moments of light that enter the lives a unfortunate youngsters who then radiate the lives of those who have the courage to believe in the equality of mankind. They deserve our attention.
Grady Harp