DecoyMusic.com

Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw star in this heart-warming tale of the rise to fame of a young abandoned boy, Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), and how his path led to him becoming a professional football player for the Baltimore Ravens.  The movie touches upon mild points of prejudice and how one family decided to go against the odds and help Oher to survive a crack addicted mother and a completely broken home.

The film was good but seemed to lack a lot of substance and instead went more focus on acting instead of story.  Sandra Bullock is a hard-nosed housewife and definitely takes over as the films star when in fact it should focus or showcase more of Michael Oher as it is his true life story and tale of his rise.  Bullock does however give forth one of her best performances in her career, which isn't saying much.  The film seemed almost too Disney (even though it's Warner Bros Pictures), as it almost completely avoids the aspects of racism, poverty, and drug addiction which really led Oher to become who he is. 

The film is really all about Bullock, the blonde haired former cheerleader and her attitude to not give up on Oher giving him a place to sleep, a school to go to, and a tutor to teach him how to read, played by Kathy Bates.  Based upon a book by Michael Lewis "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game" I feel it fails to capture the true essence of Oher's story and seems to take away from the emotion and power this story should have possessed.  There are definitely heartfelt moments and almost emotional points which will lead this movie to strong box office totals amongst families whom want to show their kids a good tale but it definitely lacks in really developing the character of Quinton Aaron.

Like other reviews online have stated, the more powerful moments are the actual real life clips of when Oher was drafted to the NFL which appear at the end of the movie letting the movie goers know he did finally make it.  The movie could have been a whole lot better had it focused more on Oher and less on Bullock, more on the projects he came from, the hardships he faced, and then ending with him heading off the college and his years there before entering the NFL draft and finally making it big.  I feel like I got short changed in that aspect of it all because I feel like I barely got to know Michael Oher and all his accolaids he obtained in college and how he became the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft.

Grade: C

-Aaron Yarborough