The Blindside

Hey guys!! This is my first post ever and just to be silly, I am going to upload my review on "The Blindside" although it's already been released, just so you can get a taste of my writing. Movies are my passion and ultimate escape through life.

To watch “The Blindside” is like attending one of my Syracuse football games. You cheer, you cry and you are touched by the victory that the story ends with. Based on the original true novel The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, by Broderick Johnson, the novel allows audiences to gaze into the life of Michael Oher, a traumatized and fearful young man who is raised in the projects with very little opportunity. He is then given a chance when the Tuohy family encounters him one night while he is walking home in the cold. Oher is protected, fed, sheltered and most importantly loved by these fine people. Furthermore, they provided him with all of the necessary tools, including playing college football at Ole Miss, which enables him to become the all-star NFL player he is today.

Just like in a football game, or any sporting event for that matter, the team needs all of the necessary components; otherwise they will have no chance of winning. It needs the right coach, the right trainers, and most importantly the right draft picks. Making a movie is no different. Without the right director, cast and crew, one is just asking for a cinematic crash and burn. What struck me most about “The Blindside” was not its tear wrenching story, but its casting choices for the characters; like any sport team, it drafted its actors well. Without that, I do not think the story would have unfolded properly on screen.

I vividly remember walking out of the movie theatre and being annoyed at my friends when they laughed in my face after I announced that Sandra Bullock would receive her first Oscar nomination as an actress because of her performance. That was in January. Jump to March, I chuckled to myself as she scooped her first Oscar and delivered her acceptance speech, while thinking about the eye rolls I received from my friends. I always enjoyed the works of Sandra Bullock from her box-office hit Speed to not-so-box office achievement, Two Weeks Notice, but never thought she had what it took to act in a compelling story. I viewed her as only to entertain and make people laugh, not captivate. The role of Leigh Anne Touhy was made for Bullock for she got every move, gesture and word of the character down to the bone. She not only lent her talent as an actress to the role, but as a businesswoman, she was smart and delicate about her choice. Not only did she defy the odds and my preconceived judgments, but also she knew her capabilities as an actress, which ultimately enabled her to fill her shoes of the role at hand.

I feel as though it is safe to say, that The Blindside is a win or victory for Bullock as an actress, more so than it is about telling Michael Oher’s story. It’s Bullock’s drama and no one elses. As the audience, we fall in love with Bullock’s sincere sensibility she lends to the role, which allows us, ultimately to relate and “root” to her character.