The Blind Side (2009)
Directed by John Lee Hancock
The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.
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22 films that influenced The Blind Side
What critics say influenced The Blind Side
Were reminded of Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich but with a touch of Hilary Swanks Freedom Writers inspiration.
There's some of the Julia Roberts vibe from Erin Brockovich here and it would be foolish to assume the actress was unaware of the Oscar potential inherent in the part when she accepted it.
Bullock may have found her Erin Brockovich in Tuohy, commanding the screen with grit and determination in an Oscar-worthy role if ever there was one.
Bullock, making a comic-dramatic play for "Erin Brockovich" territory, is perfectly suited to play the tart, no-nonsense Leigh Anne, who, when she sees Oher (Quinton Aaron) walking alone on a cold, rainy Memphis night, spontaneously invites him to stay with her family.
Cast as Michael’s errant, drug-addicted mother, Lenox takes her role, which amounts to only a few lines of dialogue, and fills it out with such delicate, shamed emotion that it’s hard not to resent the director for insistently cutting back to Our Star, the ever-bland Bullock, who listens in such an oblivious, absent way to Lenox’s heartfelt attempts to communicate that I was reminded of Lana Turner inanely marveling at the fact that her long-time maid Annie (Juanita Moore) has friends in Imitation of Life (1959).
Second, there is the “Magical Negro,” the Black character teaches Whites compassion, folklore-like lessons and other doses of emotionality (think Hattie McDaniel in Gone With The Wind, Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones, or, a recent example, Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty).
Just in time for Christmas, professional schmaltz peddler John Lee Hancock updates Richard Pryor's The Toy by giving another privileged white brat a black man he can fuck with, call his victories his own, and keep in the guest room.
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It’s a professionally done tale of the uplifting variety—no different, at bottom, than when Cary Grant and Betsy Drake adopted sullen, physically-challenged Clifford Tatum Jr. and taught him how to be a part of a family in Room for One More (1952).
Were reminded of Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich but with a touch of Hilary Swanks Freedom Writers inspiration.
Quickly, the film abandons social commentary for a parade of NCAA coach cameos in a courtship montage where schools attempt to recruit Michael while negotiating perks with S.J. in some sort of nod to Ben Affleck’s extortion of recruiters in Good Will Hunting .
Unlike Sissy Spacek in The Long Home or Michelle Pfeiffer in Lovefield ( while fictional, these two films contain no elements of “The Great White Hope” or “The Magical Negro”), the Tuohys own background is never explored, which might have made this good movie into an excellent flick.
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Viewers should recall Head from his first feature appearance as the son of Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron in “Hancock,” while Collins’ refreshing performance is her feature debut after a few tv appearances.
After seeing her young son S.J. (Jae Head, "Hancock") talking to the big, black teenager, Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock, "The Proposal," "What About Steve") noted him out on a cold night wearing only a t-shirt and before he knew it, Michael had been hit by Leigh Anne on "The Blind Side."
There is no sizzle to the scenes between Leigh Anne and Sean; their marriage may be perfect, but the actors' chemistry is as scorching as a wet blanket.Giving child actors a bad name when so many recent ones have impressed (i.e., Max Records in " Where the Wild Things Are ," Kodi Smit-McPhee in " The Road "), Jae Head (2008's " Hancock ") is so sickeningly precocious and upbeat as S.J. that visions of strangling him are not out of the question.
After the fiasco of “The Alamo,” Hancock is solidly back in his wheelhouse with another compelling sports story that echoes the human touch he brought to the 2002 sleeper hit “The Rookie.”
Hancock, who also directed another inspirational sports drama, The Rookie, gets the tone just about right.
Directed by John Lee Hancock, known for the award winning baseball drama The Rookie, The Blind Side is a remarkable true story that unashamedly tugs at the heart strings.
It’s not his fault, but director John Lee Hancock (“The Rookie”) doubles downed on the actor’s adorableness at great cost to the story in toto.
"The Blind Side" was directed by John Lee Hancock, who also helmed 2002's "The Rookie," another life-as-sports-analogy movie that was based on real events.
Based on Michael Lewis’ book, it was adapted and directed by John Lee Hancock, who made the equally pleasant baseball drama “The Rookie,” as well as “The Alamo” (which, ironically, has been forgotten).