The Blind Side was an interesting movie for me. I am typically not much of a movie reviewer or critic because I watch a movie to be entertained. I notice when a movie has an excellent message and love to use movie portrayals as teaching points, but that is usually the end of my analysis.
With The Blind Side, however, I came away intrigued by my reaction. I was generally entertained by the movie, but I was intuitively disappointed when it ended. And I immediately knew why.
The movie wasn’t about Michael Oher. The movie didn’t present some great moral theme. In fact, it felt like the movie intentionally left out many opportunities to inspire. With the exception of one scene where Sandra Bullock told off a few wealthy, prejudiced women, the movie left this viewer feeling like the main thing I could take away from the film was that Sandra Bullock could still turn heads and that she did a good job of playing the controlling, wealthy Southern woman in a funny and likeable way. I really felt like the movie was mostly about Sandra Bullock.
So, if you enjoy Miss Bullock and you want to be entertained for a couple of hours, watch the movie. But if you expect to see a compelling presentation about racial issues, the needs of the homeless, adoption, the excess of the sports industry, a story of inspirational overcoming, or any of the many social issues The Blind Side could have addressed, you will be disappointed. I’d recommend you read a great book like The Same Kind of Different As Me instead. It is highly unusual for any “based-on-a-true-story” flick not to inspire.
If you had a different reaction or saw more in the movie, I’d love to hear about it.
