Week of November 26, 2009, Issue #736
FILM
The Blind Side
Jonathan Busch / jonathan@vueweekly.com
At the peak of Palin's biography release, Sandra Bullock tackles the timely role as Republican white mama Leigh Ann Tuohy, who adopts into her own home and family a husky black teenager (Quinton Aaron) from the other side of town. Much to the lunchtime criticism of her peer lady friends, they are just aghast at this strong fellow's skills at football, and how mighty keen Leigh Ann is in helping him get past those crack house jitters and giving it his all.
Now just you all hush—this kind working woman took this poor boy under her wing because all she wanted was to see a clean set of clothes on his back and warm bed for him to sleep in. By no means did she and her Taco Bell chain-owning husband (played by country star Tim McGraw) have any idea he would be the apple of every Southern college's eye when he hit that football field.
The Blind Side, based on Michael Lewis' non-fiction bestseller, aims to be both a skilled analysis of football strategy as "metaphor for life" and the honest-to-Christ-true story of a boy who overcame hardship by trusting a couple of hardworking Americans and their delightful children. With Bullock at the wheel, touting her signature wheeze and overwritten banter (which is my favorite part), it becomes a vehicle for perhaps a Golden Globe actress nomination and most definitely an easy snag for the moms waiting for New Moon to let out their daughters.
In that sense, when the film ends and we pay witness to real-life figures in which these antics are based, it's not the same glory as seeing the concert footage of Tina Turner at the conclusion of What's Love Got to Do With It. It's a chin-tapping moment, seeing Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher come out and hug the bleach-blonde Mom-of-the-Year and her entourage. Truly, I don't buy it. Not only the legitimacy of the tale, but the cheap ploy of tactics to tickle our fancies rather than challenge them—the moping, Eeyore-like hero, his obliviously racist English teacher and a wise-cracking kid brother straight out of Pixar. As many of those who find it enlightening, double that should find it offensive.
Nonetheless, it's as hard to resist for some as Palin's stilettos. Though once able to decipher a post-modern retelling of the oil boom, Movie Central subscribers are still not prepared to doubt Miss Bullock's sincerity.
The Blind Side
Written and directed by John Lee Hancock
Starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron
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