“The Blind Side” Is Solid Entertainment—If You Don’t Dig Too Deep

If you are into stories that strip away the ugly truths and wrap you in feel-good cocoons, you will most likely love “The Blind Side.” If you’re cynical to the point of exhaustion, the Disney-ification of the story of Michael Oher will likely strike you as a disappointing money grab aimed to exploit a journey rife with corruption by those vying for Oher’s talents.

And that is no offense to Oher. What he overcame, addressed, struggled past and came to terms with in his path to the NFL is truly remarkable; no amount of exaggeration or glossing over of some of the ugly realities of those who somewhat took advantage of him can erase that. How many thousands (millions?) in his position would have given up and taken a dramatically different and violent road? That Oher is where he is is undoubtedly a credit to him, and no one can take that away from him.

Yet the sheer number of liberties taken with the reality of what happened underneath the tremendous ascension of Oher cannot be ignored. The book this flick is based on -- “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game” by Michael Lewis -- delves much more into the assertions that the Tuohy family not only may have bought grades for Oher at prep school, but also delivered him straight to Ole Miss. The movie only touches on these allegations very minutely, instead focusing on delivering Sandra Bullock (as Leigh Anne Tuohy) as the vehicle of the movie instead of Oher.

Bullock reportedly turned down the role three different times before accepting, apparently overcoming the fact that she wasn’t comfortable playing such a devout Christian. Since she was gift-wrapped an Academy Award for her work (I take issue with this, but oh well), it looks like she made the right choice. However, I would argue that Aaron (whose real-life story is almost as good as Oher’s) is at least the equal of Bullock in this one.

I’m not here to say that “The Blind Side” isn’t an enjoyable flick; it is. Written and directed by John Lee Hancock, it nicely packages and blends humor (S.J. is a nice foil), touching moments, a compelling story and a happy ending. I guess part of me just wishes that they would have added a “loosely” in front of the phrase “based on a true story.”