CINEMA: The Blind Side, part 2

The Blind Side tells the true story of pro American footballer Michael Oher who, as a black Memphis teenager, is adopted by the Tuohys, a wealthy white couple who encourage his sporting ability.

Oher is a giant young man from the wrong side of the tracks with intelligence and strong protective instincts. He ends up at the same school as the Tuohys’ children and when he is found wandering in the rain one night without a home to go to Leigh-Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) offers him a place to sleep and he ends up staying with her family permanently.

Leigh-Anne’s motivation for offering Michael a home is never fully explored and it seems odd that neither her husband or her two children ever properly question the situation.

A bit more courage in the cutting room wouldn’t have gone amiss either. The opening five minutes of footage of American football with a voiceover by Bullock really adds nothing to the story and anyone who doesn’t understand the game will be utterly disinterested. And the montage of college scouts trying to persuade Michael to join their schools feels like it goes on forever. But the story itself is interesting enough and Quinton Aaron’s performance as Oher is note perfect and offers more than enough to keep you caring about what ultimately happens to him.

Bullock gives a solid, believable performance and it’s interesting to see her in something other than a decidedly average rom-com but it’s hard to see why it was an Oscar winner. It’s not the kind of role that requires a showstopping turn and most half-competent actresses could have made a decent enough fist of it.

But Tinseltown is a sucker for heaping honours on those real-life, triumphing-against-adversity tales and Bullock is a popular star who has made a great deal of money for studios over the years so the award was never really in doubt.

It wouldn’t be disappointing to never see another film with the hideous stage-school-brat presence of Jae Head as SJ Tuohy. It’s a miracle he didn’t cheesily slap his thigh whenever he was doing something the audience was supposed to laugh at or break into a chorus of It’s a Hard Knock Life while doing jazz hands.

One lovely touch is the footage right at the end of the film which briefly shows the real-life Michael Oher and the Tuohy family as his footballing success grows.

The Blind Side isn’t a bad film but there is no fathomable reason why it was nominated for best picture at the Oscars and why Bullock’s performance has earned such praise. Maybe people are just relieved to see her not hilariously tripping over something as she wrestles with an utterly contrived comic situation?