Grade: A

Just in time for Thanksgiving comes a movie to help you remember why you should be thankful in your own life.  I am always a sucker for movies that are based on a true story as long as it is accurately portrayed.  Well, this one rises to the top of my list.  Sandra Bullock landed a role to the kind of characters that she should have been playing 15 years ago.  She shines playing well to do, headstrong Memphis’ upper crust woman of faith, Leigh Anne Touhy that will even make Leigh Anne proud.    

Taken from Michael Lewis’ nonfiction book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, John Lee Hancock directs this story as elegantly as he did The Rookie.  He helps Quinton Aaron to become Michael Oher.  A 16 year-old high school kid ends up going to a private Christian school in Memphis, but doesn’t have any drive to excel.  When one teacher that sees his potential pushes other educaters to believe in him, Oher’s drive slowly increases.  Meanwhile, a wealthy family named the Touhys whose kids attend the same school crosses his path when they see him walking home.  When they decide to give him a ride, they realize he has no place to go.  Leigh Anne Touhy takes him in permanently and gives Michael his own room.  Once his grades improve, the Touhys encourage him to go out for football where he ends up becoming the left tackle that protects the quarterback’s blind side.

As time goes a long, Michael becomes one of the family who are big Ole Miss fans.  Mr. and Mrs. Touhy are University of Mississippi alums and during their tenure there, they played sports.  Once universities around the south find out about Oher, they are out to recruit him, but the Touhys are trying to persuade him to take the offer from Ole Miss.     

All the performers in this film rise to occasion.  It is said that this is an Oscar-worthy performance by Sandra Bullock and that’s not exaggerated. Hancock’s Jae Head steals every scene as elementary school kid, S.J. (Sean Jr.) Touhy and will make you laugh every time.  Also Tim McGraw, Kathy Bates and Ray McKinnon as Coach Cotton are phenomenal in their roles.

The most intriguing part of this film is where the story contrasts Michael’s life with his old friends from the projects.  It shows what happens when you take a different path.  Sometimes, kids don’t have a choice of their surroundings and they just need someone to believe in them like they believed in Michael Oher.

This story happened roughly 5 or 6 years ago since Michael Oher was the 2009 NFL first round draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens.  I am not an NFL fan, but after seeing this movie, I am now a fan of the Baltimore Ravens and I will be rooting for Michael Oher just like the Touhys.  You will be laughing and tearing up all throughout this film, but it will leave you with a smile on your face and a grown sense of thankfulness.

To view the trailer:  http://www.theblindsidemovie.com/  

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Ken’s Movie Review Grading Scale

A – Superb and solid; a movie that will be etched in your mind 10 years from now

B – Good movie, so good in fact that you would want to see it again before it’s out of the        theaters; the story may drag in places

C – Average, entertaining at parts; you might want to wait and rent it

D – Lacks a lot from entertainment, plot, realism, development, etc.

F – Terrible and you will want to walk out of the movie; no redemptive qualities whatsoever