The Blind Side

Foremost a football film but with a message wrapped in yummy nougat The Blind Side will appeal to sports fans foremost with some ancillary interest from Sandra Bullock fans. Blind Side tells the true story of a hulking teen who lives on relatives couches, outcast from his crack addicted mom. Bullock lives on the other side of the tracks but her compassion demands that she help this gentle giant and her dutiful family falls in line with her game plan.
The Blind Side starts off a winner but slows down and fumbles towards the end. The resonance of Bullock's turn as a Southern belle, Old Miss grad and just plain loving mom strikes a chord. But her cutesy son mugs too much and Tim McGray is merely a second banana as her husband. The producers should've had McGraw sing a song during the movie rather than over the ending credits. Quinton Aaron gives a winning performance as Michael Oher (pronounced Oar), often taking his character to the edge of confusion while maintaining a veneer of solemn quiet.
The main irk I have with Blind Side is that dramatically the film doesn't mesh with the arc of the true life story. While we confront Oher's various demons like seeking out his mother such moments are never as heavy as say a similar scene in Antwone Fisher. Then director John Lee Hancock (I've always admired his screenplay for A Perfect World and liked his take on The Alamo) spends the third act doling out cameos from southern university football team coaches and makes the crux of the movie hinge over what school Oher will choose. The Blind Side executes its plays with precision but comes to a grinding halt long before the end.