‘The Blind Side’ Is a True Winner

*** This review for 'The Blind Side' is something that I worked on for the Examiner in January 2010***

For many years, film studios have been releasing some very moving and inspiring sport dramas, like “Rocky,” “Remember the Titans,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “Friday Night Lights” and the lists goes on. After awhile, there hasn’t been a recent sports drama that has caught a lot of interest and attention like “The Blind Side.” The Sandra Bullock football drama is filled with emotion and many cheers. “The Blind Side” is one of the rare sports dramas that can keep people glued to the screen from beginning to end.

In the Warner Brothers presentation of “The Blind Side,” Sandra Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, who is an interior designer and co-owns many fast food franchises with her husband, Sean (played by Tim McGraw). One night, while driving home, the Tuohy’s find a young man named Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) walking alongside the road. They later find out that Oher has been a foster child most of his life because his mother could not take care of him. Every time he is at a foster home, Oher sometimes tries to run away just to find his mother. Now, the Tuohy family takes him in and is attending a Christian school. The rest of the film takes you through Michael Oher’s tough journey of having a new family, going through Christian school without knowing a lot and, eventually, playing football.

“The Blind Side” is one of the greatest sports dramas ever made. The movie keeps the audience cheering with Oher while he goes through his journey. There are many moments throughout the movie that the viewer can actually feel the same emotion that the young Michael Oher is feeling in the movie. The acting in the movie was just astounding. In my opinion, Sandra Bullock gives her finest performance in this movie and should definitely be nominated for the forthcoming Oscar awards later in early March. Bullock has also been nominated many times for her performance.

As stated before, Sandra Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy. Bullock has recently been in “All About Steve” and “The Proposal.” For “The Blind Side,” Bullock has been nominated for a Golden Globe, an SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) award and a BFCAA (Broadcast Film Critics Association Award). It looks like a no-brainer that Sandra Bullock could earn her first Oscar nomination. Country singer/actor Tim McGraw portrays her husband, Sean Touhy. McGraw has recently appeared in “Four Christmases,” “The Kingdom,” “Flicka” and “Friday Night Lights.”

Other cast members include: Quinton Aaron (Be Kind Rewind) as Michael Oher, Jae head (Hancock) as S.J. Touhy, Lily Collins (90210) as Collins Tuohy, Ray McKinnon (Deadwood) as Coach Cotton, Kim Dickens (TV’s Friday Night Lights; Thank For Smoking) as Mrs. Boswell and Kathy Bates (The Day the Earth Stood Still) as Miss Sue. “The Blind Side” is written and directed by John Lee Hancock, who has directed “The Alamo” and “The Rookie.”

“The Blind Side” is based on the true story of Baltimore Ravens player Michael Oher. It is also based on the Michael Lewis book “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game.” Actress Julia Roberts was offered the role of Leigh Anne before Sandra Bullock took the part. Roberts was also offered Bullock’s role in “The Proposal.” I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys sports films and is a Michael Oher fan. Even if you are not a sports film fan, you should come and see the movie anyway. You will not be disappointed.

“The Blind Side” opened with very positive reviews from critics everywhere. The movie opened on November 20 and earned $34.1 million during its opening weekend. Right now, it is the highest grossing sports film ever and the highest in Sandra Bullock’s career.

“The Blind Side” is rated PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references and has a running time of 128 minutes.