The Blind Side

So it's Thursday night, I'm supposed to be transcribing quotes from the pages of Newspaper Power for an essay on political bias... but instead I shall praise the privilege of being a member of SeeFilmFirst, and seeing them for free as well as first.
My boyfriend and I went to see The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock the other night. It's a true story, based on the life of NFL star Michael Oher (pronounced Oar, like in the boat).
Michael Oher (Big Mike) should statistically have been a failure; probably a drug-addict, wife-beater, drive-by professional or all three. Brought up in foster families in the projects of Memphis, he was known as "the runner" as he would never stay with the family he had been placed with, always escaping to find his birth mother who would prefer a night with the crack-pipe than a night tucked up reading stories to her 12 children.

The Tuohys are the perfect American Republican family-of-four, of whom the patriarch owns 85 Taco Bells. One evening, the Tuohys spot Big Mike on the side of the road in his oversized clothes that he washes in the sink at the laundrette. Being God-fearing Christians, in a selfless gesture that seems inherently unrealistic and even downright stupid, the family offer to put a roof over his head, clothes on his back and food in his belly. No strings, no preliminary trial.
The filthy-rich white family take in the huge homeless black boy and let him sleep on their $10,000 couch. And that night was the beginning of the rest of his life.

Sandra's performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy is impeccable and reminded me of the Southern Belle busybody mother of Britney, Lynn Spears.
The film is feel-good and has more than a generous helping of cheese, but it was all real. Which makes it remarkable. It's the real-life Ryan Attwood in the O.C. It's a refreshing example of Christianity to the point of fairy tale, but proves that not all parts of religion are corrupt. It's one family's effort to overcome prejudice and racism. It's a bit of sunshine; straightforward and lovely.

If I hadn't been offered a free ticket to this film I probably would have never seen it, but I'm glad I did.