Nate's DVD Collection ~ The Blind Side

Hell has frozen over. I finally bought a new movie. But just any new movie, but a new movie with Sandra Bullock as the lead actress.

For those of you who have followed my DVD review series, you may have noticed that most of the movies on the list are fairly old, with the exception of Twilight and a few other fairly recent ones. A number of things including budget, interest, and availability effect my ability to get newer films. And yet, these articles rely heavily on the tags I use to attract attention via the search engines.

And while I am not one to pick at a corpse and use the name of a recently deceased person such as Corey Haim to increase my hits, I do feel that the living are fair game. And there is no denying the fact that Sandra Bullock has been in the news a lot recently. Actually she's been in the news as much as an actress who isn't on drugs, suffering from cancer, or again, dead, can be without losing the interest of readers.

The difference is that I respect her as an actress. I would never bother her and ask her probing questions about her love life and about the cheating SOB who broke her heart, because like her I know what it is like to have crap happen in my life and to not be able to hear the end of it. Whether it's well meaning friends and family offering tidbits of advice that I didn't ask for, or random passerby driving in their vehicles and shouting my name out along with the event in question, as if this would be an adequate explanation for the insurance company should they run over a nun, or a beloved pet dog, or a line of children crossing the street while they were rubber necking.

However, while I sympathize with Ms. Bullock's situation, I feel that any crash you can walk away from is a good crash. And though she may walk away with scratches, the point is that Sandra Bullock will walk. Corey Haim, Brittany Murphy, and a host of other people who died tragically but no one but their families and small social circles seems to give a crap about, are not walking away from their crashes. So, I love you Sandra and I'm sorry that the tabloids have a one track mind, but I need your name to score hits on this hub. You understand.

And if I see you at your sister's bakery in Montpelier again I hope we can still be friends.

So, on with the show.

Based on the true story, The Blind Side tells the story of NFL draft pick Michael Oher and the well-to-do family that gave him a place to live and a chance he didn't have as a kid growing up in an impoverished, violence torn neighborhood.

Starring Quinton Aaron as Micheal Oher

Also starring Tim McGraw and Kathy Bates

Bonus fun fact: The kid who plays SJ: Jae Head was also Aaron Embry, Charlize Theron's stepson in the Will Smith film Hancock.

Deleted Scenes

First and foremost what I love about this movie is that it is not about football. Oh, it's about a kid who learns how to play football and goes on to become a football player, but this is not about football. Getting past the “true events” this was based on, there is a very powerful story about people in good situations actually coming down from the rafters to take notice of the people who are still at the bottom and struggling.

I remember last year when Madonna and Angelina Jolie signed up for their Frequent Adoption Reward Cards at the Orphanmart. Madonna had to go to an overseas location and adopt a kid from Africa, which I was totally fine with. But there was a round table discussion between these comedians and one of the women was mentioning about were plenty of kids in America who could use a strong parental figure.

This story is exactly what those women were talking about. Michael Oher isn't a kid from a across the ocean, he's from the neighborhood that people like Leigh Ann Tuohy roll their windows up before driving through. And yet she reaches out to him, gives him a bed to sleep in and uses all of the good fortune that she and her family have been lucky enough to come across to give the kid a shot at life here in the country he was born in.

Sandra Bullock, who seems to be drawn to roles like this, plays the strong willed wife and mother Leigh Anne Tuohy, who takes charge of every situation and does not take guff from anyone. (Actually that's about every role that she ever plays in period)

I don't know if it's the acting or if Leigh Ann was really this kind of woman. But I have nothing but respect for a woman who doesn't back down, even to people she might consider her friends. If you can be the same person for your family that you can be everyone else then you are a strong person no matter what and Sandra Bullock owns the role.

Tim McGraw turns in an excellent performance, a sentence I never thought I'd see myself write given that I can't stand country music. Fortunately Timmy leaves the big hat and the guitar in the car for this movie and he portrays Leigh Anne's wife...er...husband, who takes a liking for Michael and lovingly adopts the big guy into their family.

Finally kudos has to go to Quinton Aaron, who portrays the gentle giant, often compared to Ferdinand the Bull. It was such a believable performance and the scenes he shared with Sandra Bullock and the rest of the family were emotional and touching.

I don't like football. I don't like sports of any kind. I don't like country music.

Fortunately there is one football scene and it's there and gone before I can zone out and forget what the movie is about.

I think with all of the hype about it there could have been a few more extras. Maybe some interviews with the real-life football player or some extras like that. Right now this a pure Sandra Bullock vehicle, so if you're into her as an actress, go for it. All in all it's a feel good movie, perfect for the classroom or as something to watch with the family after dinner on a Friday night.

All in all I'd give a few months to come down in price. It'll be in the bargain bins before next X-mas and it will make a great gift for some football fan in your life.

You'll be happy to know that this movie comes with a seal of approval from the Parents Television Council...or whoever the hell they are. Mostly I'd go with a yes on this one. Even the scenes that would be considered “violent” are hardly anything to get upset about and you could easily explain them to your children without using diagrams and words from a college level dictionary.