"THE BLIND SIDE" Packs an Emotional Punch

[Carl M. Zapffe]

"THE BLIND SIDE"('09) ... The heartwarming story told in this film packs all the more powerful a punch because it is true. Adapted from the book by Michael Lewis with the same title, the story is about the Touhy family in Memphis and what happens after they bring a black teenager from the projects into their home and into their lives.

The title of this movie comes from a football term that defines the blind side as the left side of a right handed quarterback. He turns to the right to pass forward, so he becomes blind on his opposite, left side. After a NFL accident in which a quarterback was severely injured by being tackled from his left side, it was widely recognized that quarterbacks needed the left tackle to protect them on that side. As a result, left tackles had to be found who were dominant, alert, and quick on their feet. Left tackles are now the second highest paid players in the NFL after quarterbacks, and Michael Oher is one of the best as the left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. This movie is about how he got there. 

Oher's life began on the wrong side of the tracks as a kid from the projects in Memphis, Tennessee with a drug-addicted mother. He had been placed into child protective custody for much of his life, and his mother has just been evicted from her flat when this story begins. In spite of his upbringing, Michael is a sweet, naive teenager, but even his preternaturally kind nature will not protect him from the predation of the gangs in the projects. He has no one to care for him after school, so he wanders the streets looking for warm, dry places to visit like laundromats, where he will throw a dirty article of clothing in with someone else's laundry.

Michael Oher, played by Quinton Aaron, is walking along a Memphis sidewalk on a rainy night when a car pulls over and Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock), the driver, asks him if he needs any help. Her kids in the car recognize him as "Big Mike," a shy, quiet student from their school. Leigh Anne and the other three members of the Touhy family could have remained in their BMW and just kept on driving, but somehow the sight of this poor, hulking kid walking aimlessly in the wet and the cold touched their hearts. They made a gutsy decision not to THINK something about his condition, not to PRAY something about his condition, but instead to DO something about his condition. 

They brought "Big Mike" home with them and the next morning instead of finding their house looted, they found the sheets folded neatly on the couch where he had slept. Leigh Anne decides to investigate Mike's situation as a charity student at their Christian high school. His record isn't good and practically everyone has written him off as a hopeless case. One teacher, however, digs further and finds out that while "Big Mike" is only marginally able to read and write, he has the intelligence to take verbal exams. The Touhys decide to tutor Mike so that his grades will improve enough for him to be able to try out for sports.  

While Sandra Bullock has won an Oscar nomination for her role as Leigh Anne Touhy, it is Jae Head who steals the film as S. J. Touhy, the young son who immediately bonds with Michael Oher and becomes his mentor. S.J. remains infectiously enthusiastic and appealing throughout the film, and he really anchors this movie by becoming, in effect, the left tackle for Michael to protect his own blind side in adapting to a life so dramatically different from his former one in the projects. 

It is rare that Hollywood green lights a movie that shows Christianity in such a positive light, and I am all the more grateful for this. I am also very happy to see a film that unabashedly portrays strong family values along with seeing Southerners who are really wonderful people instead of being rubes, racists, bigots, or rednecks. 

When asked later about how much she has changed Mike's life, Leigh Anne replies that she is the one who has been changed the most. That is the best message of all. This is not a great movie, but it IS a great life story, and that makes it a very special film. (B+, SEE IT!)

Carl M. Zapffe,

The Cat's Meow Movie Critic

http://www.catsmeowmoviecritic.com