The Blind Side

My wife force-fed me this one over the weekend even though I told her several times that I had no interest in seeing it. I was pleasantly surprised, however, and was glad for the experience. Sandra Bullock did a great job in the lead role of an upper middle-class white Memphis suburbanite who is confronted with her own prejudices and challenged to live out the Christian beliefs that she says she holds -- an absolutely charming character, very well portrayed. What Michael Oher accomplished is nothing short of inspirational. All he needed was a chance and some encouragement. His story offers a rare glimpse at a brand of compassionate, race-transcending human decency that would benefit our society enormously if more of us could find it within ourselves to step out of our comfort zones to emulate this example. I definitely recommend this movie, which is also very family friendly.

This movie is nothing but white folk patting themselves on the back for helping a "poor black kid" off the streets. Never once does the movie give credit to Michael Oher for his amazing accomplishments.

This is an excellent film with a message needed for today. We do not need collective government programs to help anybody. We need what this film portrays. Christians living for God and caring for their neighbours. The person God places in your path to help. Whatever it takes! That is what a real Christian does. NOT the Government. So stop complaining and get out of your comfort zone and sacrifice for someone else. Believe me it is what we are alive for in this present age.

I can see why Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for her role, she was brilliant. This movie was a tear jerker. Shame there weren't more Leigh-Anne Tuohys in this world. It is an inspiration for us all.

Tim McGraw gently suggests early in this film that to discover the essence of a person you must peel the onion, one layer at a time. The same applies to a well-made film like "The Blind Side". When you get past the feel-good platitudes related to family, faith, and fan-dom, you arrive at the tragic tale of a gentle soul, desiring nothing more than to live and let live, like Fernand the Bull, heading for certain failure in one of the many competitive arenas that America holds so dear, high school football. The key to excavating the "productive" violence within him is to remind him (through a series of violent black and white flashbacks to his childhood) of how angry he is at the hand the world has dealt him and to re-channel that anger into bashing heads on the football field. This is the same formula employed so successfully by those fighting in an army, or trading on Wall Street, or seeking the Nobel Prize, or launching a website like Facebook. The advice from Michael's crackhead biological mother is to close his eyes to avoid the pain. But this is anathema to the coaches, college alums, and many parents whose highest value is "winning the game", so fate delivers a hard-driving surrogate mother (Sandra Bullock) to open his eyes and free the right tackle within him.