The Blind Side

A remarkable story gets bags of sugar and saccharine dumped all over it with The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. Many sports film clichés show up in this one, and you can see every turn in this movie coming. Too bad, because it’s directed by John Lee Hancock, who did a fine job signing the Declaration of Independence … excuse me, directing the likes of The Alamo and a very good sports movie, The Rookie. The movie is based on the true story of current Baltimore Ravens football player Michael Oher. Oher (played by Quinton Aaron) had a tough time growing up. His mom was addicted to crack, his dad was murdered, and he bounced around from home to home and school to school. This is a man who, as a high school student, managed to get a 2.52 GPA, play various sports to the point of excellence, and get scholarship offers to some of the country’s finest schools. I think Oher must’ve had a major spark of intelligence and some traces of charisma to beat the odds the way he did. This film portrays him as a big oaf.