In preparing to write this review I struggled with how I wanted to approach the movie and the review. For those of you that know me, I am a Baltimore native and a first-generation fan of the Baltimore Ravens. When the Ravens drafted Michael Oher in the recent 2009 NFL Draft it was all over ESPN and the NFL Network that a movie about his extraordinary young life was being filmed. From April till now I lobbied every month to be able to review this movie. When the trailer came out in September I started lobbying even harder. Eventually I was given the golden ticket to see the early screening. Why was this movie, out of all the other movies I have seen and will see, so big for me? Part of it was the civic pride of seeing one of my guys, a Baltimore Raven, have a story about him on the big screen. The other part was to see why so much was written and said about Michael Oher and to learn why his life turned out the way it is and lead him to Charm City (one of many nicknames for Baltimore).
Director John Lee Hancock takes the real life story of Michael Oher and brings it to the big screen not as a documentary but as a “based on true events” movie. Hollywood liberties were taken as the high school Oher attended and the name of the football team he played for were both renamed; the school is now the Wingate Christian School and the team is the Crusaders. JLH also made the character of Michael Oher appear slower and dumber then he really was at that time – I’m sure this was done to help bolster the drama of the movie.
Michael Oher’s story started at an early age when he was removed from his mother’s home due to her addiction to crack cocaine. He repeated both the first and second grade and attended eleven different schools during his first nine years as a student. During this time he was also in various foster homes and eventually would run away from the foster home to look for his mother. During his senior year of high school, Oher learned that his father, who he hadn’t seen in years, was murdered.
The Blind Side focuses on Michael Oher’s sophomore and junior years of high school. We first meet Michael Oher (played by Quinton Aaron) as he is being driven to the Wingate Christian School by the father of a friend with whom he was living, sleeping on his couch. At the school, his friend’s father Tony Henderson meets with the coach of the football team in hopes of getting his own son, Tony Jr., and Michael, into the school. The coach takes some interest in Michael but the school administrators don’t think that he fits, nor would he be capable of handling the school’s workload. His grades are below average and he was passed from grade to grade just so the next teacher would have to deal with him – no one took the time to try and help or teach Michael. One teacher, Mrs Boswell (played by Kim Dickens) fights to allow Michael into the school and says that she will help him learn and get his grade point average up to passing level.
During this time Michael leaves his friend’s house due to issues within that household. Because of this, Michael has been living at the school in the gymnasium or at the local laundromat in town. The night before Thanksgiving, Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy (played by Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock) with their son S. J. (played by Jae Head) are heading home from the school when they see Michael walking on the side of the road on a cold and rainy night heading in the direction of the school. Feeling sad for Michael, the Tuohy’s offer to take Michael back to their home so he can get a warm night’s sleep. Leigh Ann starts to help Michael by offering to take him shopping for new clothes as well as hire a tutor (played by Kathy Bates) to help him bring the GPA from 0.9 to 2.65 and get him the education he never received. The Tuohy’s oldest daughter Collins (played by Lily Collins) also helps Michael with his studying. The Tuohys know that Michael can do so much more when given a chance and are there to encourage and help him.
The Blind Side chronicles the hard times and new times that Micheal Oher experiences. Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock do incredible jobs portraying the Tuohy’s and both show the warmth and compassion that is in the hearts of the real-life people they are playing. Both managed to become the Tuohys and you forget that this is a movie as you fall into the real-life struggles and trials that the family goes through in helping Michael Oher. Quinton Aaron does a great job at playing Michael Oher. He manages to capture the physical size and athleticism of the character. He also does a wonderful job in showing the softer side of Oher, although as stated earlier, the director does play on the “slowness” to help push the drama. The comic relief of the movie would be Jae Head as S.J which is short for Sean Tuohy Junior. S.J. manages to work up the laughs and isn’t the stereotypical cute kid/brat but is the light-hearted support that is needed to push the dark subject to the side. S.J. manages to help Oher with his college offers and eventual pick of which college he will attend. The Tuohys want Michal to go to Mississippi University, Ole Miss, as that is where they attended college, but let Michael hear offers from other colleges. Because this is based on real life you are treated to screen cameos of current and former college coaches as they try to get Oher to go to their college/university. It’s amazing to see what coaches will do and what deals are made to entice someone to play for their organization.
The Blind Side is an emotional roller coaster as there are laughs and teary moments throughout the movie. There is a very touching scene in the movie when Leigh Ann finds Michal’s mom and asks for permission to adopt Michael even though he has been a ward of the state for years. No matter how different the social class is between the two women, they are both mothers that have children and were able to relate with each other over the well-being of Michael.
The last scene of the movie was a great added bonus that helped complete the first chapter of Michael Oher’s story and lead into the next chapters of his life. The crowd that attended the screening was clapping and cheering when this scene came up on the screen and I have to admit, I joined in with the celebration. I’m left wondering how this will play out in other cities as I’m sure it will be big in Baltimore. I can’t wait to see The Blind Side again to compare the different audiences and see how they react to the last scene of the movie.
The Blind Side is rated PG-13 due to one scene of drug usage, violence, and sexual references. Some of the content is dark and not suitable for younger viewers (just saying, not telling you to not take your 3-year-old but hey, that’s up to you). After you’ve seen The Blind Side, post a comment and let me know what you thought. I know that I’ll be revisiting this review and adding some comments of my own once I’ve seen it a second time. The Blind Side is a movie so nice that you’ll want to see it twice.
