Dir: John Lee Hancock / Writer: John Lee Hancock / Cinematography: Alar Kivilo
Staying on the right side (image: citytalk FlickrCC)
Cheesy and sentimental but The Blind Side has a good heart.
The story of an African-American boy from the wrong side of the tracks being taken in by a wealthy white family who help him to achieve his true potential on the football field feels like a simplistic, Disney-esque fairytale…and yet, it’s a true story.
Now no doubt there’s been some artistic licence taken on the way to the big screen but the story’s roots in truth are what gives The Blind Side its power.
Critics have denounced the message that lies at its heart – that a poor black boy needs white assistance to be saved – but that feels way too mean-spirited. Surely we should welcome an out-stretched hand, whatever colour it comes in as long as long as it comes without unbearable conditions? With that kind of attitude there’d be no welfare state, no charity and no philanthropy – what a bleak, “survival of the fittest” society that would be.
Fortunately for Michael, his outstretched hand comes from Leigh Anne Truby (Sandra Bullock in Southern, no-nonsense, Erin Brockovitch mode) and she’s not going to let anything – gang culture, race, slurs, innuendo or even her society friends’ distaste – stand in her way.
Bullock holds the movie together but she gets good solid, unshowy support from Quinton Aaron and country-singer Tim McGraw as her easy-going hubby. Great sporting moves too (even for those unfamiliar with American Football).
Rating:
IMDb entry for The Blind Side
* Based on the novel by Michael Lewis
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