DVD Reviews

The Blind Side – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Mar 23, 2010, 19:01 GMT

$Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) knows little about family. Less about football. What the homeless teen knows are the streets and projects of Memphis. Well-to-do Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) knows little about his world. Yet when she and Michael meet, he\'s found a home. And the Tuohys have found something just as life-changing: a beloved new son and brother. This real-life story of family and of Michael\'s growth into a$

Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) knows little about family. Less about football. What the homeless teen knows are the streets and projects of Memphis. Well-to-do Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) knows little about his world. Yet when she and Michael meet, he\'s found a home. And the Tuohys have found something just as life-changing: a beloved new son and brother. This real-life story of family and of Michael\'s growth into a ...more

Uplifting and inspirational, the Blind Side is only half a sports movie. It’s more the tale of the kindness of strangers and the happy consequences of a rich couple taking in a hard luck abandoned child – albeit a very large child. Sandra Bullock should’ve renamed him Oscar.

Michael “Big Mike” Oher (Quinton Aaron) is basically a homeless youth who is sleeping on the couch of a friend. His mother is a drug addict and the boy has been shuffled through foster care and the system. He’s an enormous boy but a skilled athlete.

The father of the friend approaches Coach Cotton (Ray McKinnon) to get Big Mike into the Wingate Christian School. Coach Cotton sees Mike’s potential and pulls some strings to get him into the school. Mike may be a diamond in the rough on the athletic field, but academically he’s a shy, quiet student that doesn’t appear to do his work to most of his teacher’s annoyance.

One of his teachers, Mrs. Boswell (Kim Dickens), discovers that Michael is not as dumb as he appears. One day, Big Mike befriends fellow student Sean “SJ” Tuohy Jr. (Jae Head). SJ’s father Sean Sr. (Tim McGraw) owns a chain of successful fast food franchises, his mother Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) is a fiery, opinionated designer, and his sister Collins (Lily Collins) is a pretty cheerleader at Wingate.

The Tuohy family is driving home after a Thanksgiving pageant when they see Big Mike walking on the side of the road in the cold rain without a coat. Leigh Anne gets out of the car and questions Big Mike about where he’s going. She pulls it out of him that he doesn’t have a place to stay and the big-hearted Leigh Anne takes him in.

He even spends Thanksgiving with the Tuohy family and will eventually become more a part of their lives than they ever imagined. Their influence and mentoring will make Michael’s life more successful than he could’ve ever imagined as well.

Based on a true story, The Blind Side is a feel good Hollywood film. To some that is going to be the kiss of death, but for general audiences it will be a delight. It will forever go down as the film that got Sandra Bullock an Oscar for Best Actress.

I found her character brassy, opinionated, and with a Southern accent that didn’t make me cringe. In other words, it was a side of Bullock that I’d not seen before and she appeared to step well into the shoes of the real-life Leigh Anne and deserved her gold.

The character that got the best upgrade would be Sean Sr. as in real-life he’s balding and pudgy but on screen he’s the fit, affable Tim McGraw (who does a fine acting job as well).

Precious may have gotten the more attention for its African American lead, but Quinton Aaron is just as wonderful a lead. Precious dealt more with the ugly underbelly of poverty than The Blind Side does which leads this film to have a more Hollywood feel compared to a more realistic take in Precious. Even that casting lends to a Hollywood feel (see earlier comments on the real Sean versus Tim McGraw). I should also say that if I’ve been “had” by the “based on a true story” Blind Side that I’ve never had a more uplifting, enjoyable time being taken.

The film’s box office shows that audiences also enjoyed the con as well. Sometimes you just need a sweet treat to make you forget about all of the downfalls of real-life. Both films have equal recommendations, but if you’re not looking for that much depress then the Blind Side is for you.

It is cloaked in a sports movie plot (the football plot doesn’t click in till about an hour into the film though), but it is great to see the kindness of the Tuohy family as well as how Michael rises above his terrible beginnings with their help.

The Blind Side is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include 7 minutes of deleted scenes.

Hollywood gloss might turn some critics off of the Blind Side, but I’ll have to admit some good laughs and an uplifting feeling by the time the credits rolled. Sandra Bullock is just one of many great performances therein, but the press will come from her Oscar win. Harsher critics will complain of that same gloss, but I got caught up in the good feelings of the story and taken along with it.