Review of The Blind Side (2009) by Noah C — 25 Feb 2014

John Lee Hancock's, The Blind Side, is an inspirational and poignant true story that emancipates the ideas of loneliness and racism with great success from the great director and cast of the film. The true story of Michael Oher seems to be a stereotypical tale of a lost soul wondering aimlessly due to poor parenting, however thanks to Quinton Aaron's consoling performance for he carries most of the film.

Hancock's direction is for the most part very average with standard blocking and cinematography but poor direction does not fault this genre of film too much. The Blind Side is not an art film; it is a factual inspirational story.

There is just nothing note worthy about his direction in anyway which unfortunately is disappointing. While the directing may be somewhat bland the script is solid, with many heart warming and humorous moments dispersed through out the film.

With a solid script and poor direction it is up to the acting to save the film. Fortunately the acting is also solid but not great, there are many stereotypical characters with absolutely zero depth such as Leigh Ann's friends and the hurt village gang, which are laughably one-dimensional.

Two actors whom gave the best performances in the film were undoubtedly Sandra Bullock's Oscar winning performance as Leigh Ann Tuohy and Quinton Aaron's role as Michael Oher. While Bullocks performance definitely was not Oscar worthy, her characters tenacious attitude and comforting persona was realized perfectly through Sandra Bullock.

The character of Leigh Ann just isn't that interesting despite some humorous remarks, she is essentially a soccer mom with an attitude. Aaron expertly portrayed melancholy as the mans face expressed so much by saying so little which is always a demanding task.

Big Mike is the most interesting character in the film because he has real depth unlike nearly every other character in the entire film that is largely one-dimensional. The depth and melancholy that Aaron delivers in his performance is the best part of the film.

The Blind Side is a solid sports film about the themes of loneliness' and racism accompanied by an average script, average directing, and average acting, the film is average in every way.