The Blind Side (John Lee Hancock, 2009)

You'll see this one coming

If you were to get a film making machine and chuck in all the ingredients for certain commercial success in America, you’d come out with The Blind Side. The films sure-fire recipe contains a hefty chunk of an immensely popular sport, a generous dose of a popular and talented movie star, an undercurrent of a zero-to hero success narrative and the chance to tag on “based on a true story” on your menu. You will have tasted it all before.

The, admittedly, admirable story, concerns a wealthy family who due to a chance encounter ended up taking in a homeless African-American into their rather large house. Head of the family is head-strong mother Leigh Tuohy and along with her tolerant easy going husband and role model children they help Michael Oher, or ‘Big Mike’ as he is nick named, unleash his true potential. ‘Big Mike,’ the son of a crack-addict has little in the way of education. Quickly however his new school discovers he rates in the ‘98th percentile for protective instincts’ (however they measure that) and due to this makes a fantastic American football player.

This film has received quite a lot of attention due to the much heralded performance of Leigh by Sandra Bullock. The Blind Side is up for both best picture and Bullock up for best actress at the Oscars this year. Bullock is always a guarantee for commercial success, but in terms of quality her films are very much hit and miss. All the promise that she shows in films like Crash, Miss Congeniality (a guilty pleasure of mine) and Speed she throws away in awful films like the Hope Floats, The Proposal and...Speed 2.

Is it best picture worthy? Most certainly not. Is Bullock deserved of winning best actress? While it is perfectly convincing and at times emotional performance, it is largely one dimensional. She is a dominant, powerful and as the film frequently stresses, a Christian woman. Director John Lee Hancock is that desperate to show what an amazing woman she is that little else is given much attention. The film gets the balance wrong, drawing the whole focus of the film towards her and little towards Michael.

For someone with such a tough background the real Michael Oher, now a successful American Football star, must have incredible determination and resilience. The film doesn’t make much attempt to show this, and instead gives Leigh all the credit. Underneath the good sentiment and exciting sports drama is a rather ugly tonality which presents Michael as a dog that needs training and Leigh as his trainer. Michael remains largely passive throughout the film; his only strength seems to come in how well he can throw around his weight on the football field. We are invited to feel sorry for Michael, as you might a wounded animal, but never to admire him, which is what he really deserves. He is shown as a gentle and simple giant. Leigh frequently and apparently affectionately refers to him as a bull from a children’s story. The vast majority of praise and respect the film dishes out goes to the rich white characters that appear to get all credit for their hard work in nurturing him.

If this review seems unfairly weighted towards analysing a potential racist
undercurrent within the film, it’s probably because I found little else to focus on. The Blind Side is a perfectly acceptable drama, with adequate direction, a decent soundtrack and strong performances. The football games and practices are shot with some flair and a good sense of the middle class life is shown through excellent set design.

Contrasting this, when the film shows us Michael’s ‘hood’ there is a degree of menace amongst the rundown streets, but nothing compared to the harsh realities recently seen in Precious. Everything from Michael’s previous life is washed over quickly. At one point he returns to his old neighbourhood and has an encounter with some drug dealers from his past, but compared to other filmic representations of them, the way they are shown feels sugar coated. That being said there are a few laughs, a few tears, and if you’re less cynical than me, you may find the story truly inspirational.

Verdict
It is definitely a film aimed towards American audiences, and I don’t know if it will find the same success here with its relentless optimises and emphasis on wholesome Christian values. The film begins with by analysing an accident that occurred during an American Football game and ends with Leigh thanking god for all that she has. In reality shouldn’t she be thanking herself? That’s pretty much all the film does.
**1/2