The Blind Side

A remarkable story gets bags of sugar and saccharin dumped all over it in The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. Numerous sports-film clichés show up in this one, and you can see every turn coming. That’s too bad, because it’s directed by John Lee Hancock, who did a fine job with The Alamo and The Rookie, a fine sports movie. The movie is based on the true story of Baltimore Ravens football player Michael Oher. Oher (played by Quinton Aaron) had a tough time growing up: His mom was addicted to crack; his dad was murdered; he bounced around from home to home and school to school. This is a man who, as a high school student, managed to get a 2.52 GPA, play various sports to the point of excellence, and get scholarship offers to some of the country’s finest schools. I’m thinking Oher must’ve had a spark of intelligence and some charisma to beat the odds—yet The Blind Side depicts him as a big oaf.