M.R. Dinkins
April 6, 2010
HDTV Solutions

If you have not seen The Blind Side, maybe you were put off by the trailer. Every sappy, soppy, schmaltzy, saccharine and sentimental scenario was assembled to seduce you to the theater.

Gag. Those were the worst scenes in the movie.

What you can say is that Sandra Bullock deserved an Academy Award for the trailer alone. (Meryl, could you have bettered those cumbersome lines?)

Based on a true story about Baltimore Ravens football giant Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), the plot tracks the unlikely life of a big baffled black homeless teenager who finds his niche nurtured under the protective roof and sheltering kindness of Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and her well-heeled good-looking upper-crust lily-white right-wing born-again sports-mad Memphis family. Really. Yes, really.

If you didn't see the trailer, imagine the large Oher attending a private Christian school for petite Caucasians. He learns football, earns grades to play football, plays football, wins a football scholarship and goes from Ole Miss football to the NFL. Meanwhile, he bonds with the Tuohy kin and gently nudges Memphis society into the 21st century.

But you do have to see the movie to appreciate the perfect-for-Hollywood plot and the 2010 Academy Award performance. A modest Bullock claims she finally wore down the Academy. An audience that embraces good acting (like Meryl's as Julia) knows how tawdry mawkish and maudlin the role could have been. But wasn't. Yet there's ample fine feel-good fodder for folks to fill a willing hanky.

Now, if your girly gal insists you take her to this chic flic, you won't be disappointed. The pigskin Pygmalion even features coaches like Lou Holtz and Nick Saban playing themselves as recruiters. Plus Sandra's verbal artillery provides a heavy barrage of chortles and chuckles.

Want our advice? Buy any movie that family, friends and sports fans will gladly see twice. Or thrice.

Special Features

Wow. Hold onto your seats and keep the hankies handy. Once the movie finishes, you're gonna want to see the back side of The Blind Side. The Special Features will transport you to voyeur heaven on a Kleenex dispenser. They could even best the movie.

Features include an interview with Michael Oher, a glimpse into Quinton Aaron's life, Sandra Bullock reminiscing with the real Leigh Anne Tuohy, Script Writer and Director John Lee Hancock talking to Blind Side book author Michael Lewis, and a segment documenting a day on set with the cameo coaches cavorting with Sandra and the crew. (Sorry to say, but the weak entry is some forgettable outtakes.)

Now, if you or your forefathers or mothers marched on Selma in the sixties, seriously absent is a candid look at any undermining social issues. But considering the non-stop warm-feely facts dispensed in the complete Blind Side experience, who wants to rupture the rapture of these two equally magnetic Cinderella sport stories, both Michael Oher's and Quinton Aaron's?

The movie was made to entertain, but it's the Extras that grab you and linger. Have you already paid 10 dollars to see the movie? The value of the Extras? Priceless.

Studio: Warner Home Video

Director: John Lee Hancock

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw, Kathy Bates, Rhoda Griffis, Ray McKinnon, Jae Head

Length: 128 minutes

Rated: PG-13

Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio:
English:
  DTS-HD Master Audio
French:
  Dolby Digital 5,1
Spanish:
  Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles:
English SDH, French, Spanish