Was watching a movie after a few months’ hiatus and chose ”The Blind Side” to watch last Saturday. It was the first of the Oscar 2010 winning movies which had released. Directed by John Lee Hancock, it had won the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role – female for Sandra Bullock. So, came Saturday and off we were to keep our date with Sandra Bullock.
The film is based on a true story of how a homeless, black boy Michael Oher ( Quinton Aaron) who has had no access to any education and lives in the dark, forgotten ghettos of Memphis Tennessee, becomes a star football player.
I will not dwell on the story as I am sure it will be available on half a dozen sites.
These were my impressions of the film.
Thumbs up:
1. An American family portrayal that looks normal and truer to life. General impression is that Hollywood family portrayals border on extremes. Either an unbelievably happy family or one that is made of only individuals. Sometimes one gets the feeling that American families never have to make compromises.
2. No patronizing dialogues that the white family is the saviour of the black boy.
3. Does not shy away from showing the gulf that exists between quality of life in the white world and that in the coloured world.
4. It is truly heart warming to see the ease and the generosity with which the Tuohy family adopts Michael. It truly is a wonderful gesture by the real protagonists in the real life story.
5. Sandra Bullock does look wonderful! 
Thumbs down:
1. I dont know if Sandra Bullock’s performance merited an Oscar.
2. The latter part of the movie resembles any Bollywood movie or a zillion other Hollywood movies itself in terms of the treatment of the plot.
3. The actor playing Michael Oher is woeful.
4. The movie hardly manages to leave an indelible impression.
So…to summarise…a box of popcorn well spent but nothing to make one want to flock back to the cinema hall for an encore.
