He no longer lives with his drug addicted mother, but is in foster care when he isn't running away to sleep wherever else he can find. Seventeen year old Michael Oher, an extremely large, physically imposing black youth, grew up in the projects in Memphis. Michael Oher was the first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL draft. They not only provide him with a loving home, but hire a tutor to help him improve his grades to the point where he would qualify for an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship. When he expresses an interest in football, she goes all out to help him, including giving the coach a few ideas on how best to use Michael's skills. Leigh Anne soon takes charge however, as is her nature, ensuring that the young man has every opportunity to succeed. Michael has had little formal education and few skills to help him learn. Michael has no idea who his father is and his mother is a drug addict. The result is a straightforward and entertaining film, if you can ignore, yes, its blind spots.The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All-American football player and first-round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.īased on the true story of Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy who take in a homeless teenage African-American, Michael Oher. Still, he's in danger of too much sentimentality here - that and condescension about racial prejudice and economic barriers. But The Blind Side has plenty of heart, something Hancock appears to have a knack for (he also helmed The Rookie, an even more heartwarming drama based on a real-life athlete). Did Oher have any doubts? Was everyone at the school really that embracing? Instead, Hancock goes for the superficial. Aaron's take on Oher is a little bit more textbook, but when he smiles, you forget for a moment that he's playing a role and really imagine him as the young Oher, quiet and thoughtful but not lost.ĭirector John Lee Hancock could have explored the challenges that Leigh Anne and Michael faced as they tried to meld their divergent backgrounds with more complexity. Bullock's winning effort paves the way her Leigh Anne disarms both Oher and audiences despite a sassiness that edges on caricature - there's real vulnerability behind Leigh Anne's type-A facade. Show moreīased on a book by journalist Michael Lewis chronicling the real Oher's experiences, this film manages to inspire despite its broad-strokes approach to characterization. While language and sexual content are quite mild, you can expect a couple of brief violent scenes, references to drug use, social drinking, and words including "ass" and the "N" word. Still, Oher's life story is inarguably encouraging. For example, many of the movie's Black characters - including Michael's mom - are portrayed as impoverished, drug addicted, or both, and Black men are seen as dangerous and threatening. And while the movie alludes to the racial prejudice Michael dealt with (some scenes depict characters who are blatantly racist), it skirts the topic instead of truly tackling it. That said, it sometimes feels as if it glosses over many of the challenges that Oher and his "rescuer" (socialite Leigh Anne Tuohy, played by Sandra Bullock) must have faced when building their relationship. It centers on messages of empathy and inclusion, the benefits of perseverance and hard work, and the importance of family support. Parents need to know that The Blind Side is a formulaic but uplifting family sports drama based on the true story of football player Michael Oher.
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