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Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) gives Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) a pep talk in “The Blind Side.” |
I dreaded the press screening of “The Blind Side,” because all the TV commercials and theatrical trailers made it look like just another fact-based white savior movie like “Glory,” “Men of Honor” and “Glory Road.”
You know the genre, where noble white characters help and protect downtrodden minority characters who can only develop self-esteem, dignity and a sense of purpose thanks to their generous, selfless white benefactors?
No surprise, John Lee Hancock’s “The Blind Side” is exactly that kind of movie.
It’s about a white, well-off Memphis family who take in a homeless black teenager, feed him, clothe him, buy him a nice set of wheels and maneuver him into becoming a high-school football star with excellent college prospects.
The teenager, “Big Mike” Oher, is played by Quinton Aaron as a gentle giant with a profound sense of sadness in his eyes. He is taken in by the Tuohy family, ruled by steel magnolia Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock), a successful interior decorator married to the extremely patient Sean (Tim McGraw), a fast-food restaurant magnate. (Read more…)