The Blind Side (2009)

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Question her motives in suddenly taking in a 6'7" abandoned black teenager? Sandra Bullock will sass the living f*ck out of your ass.

Question his ability to succeed in the whitebread Memphis Christian school into which he's thrust, or imply that he might be a sexual threat to the family's teenage girl? Sandra Bullock will sass your racist ass unconscious, and sass you again before you hit the floor.

Scream epithets at him, or stare too long at Sandra's booth-tanned, tight-as-a-drum patoot? Sandy will sass you thrice, and a 6'7" hyperthyroid case/future NFL Pro Bowl lineman will viciously pancake-block your ass-looking ass into the next room.

Question is... do you like the punishment? And if not, can you keep from crying at a movie that you kind of hate?


When my Midtown appointment-- for which I'd taken the afternoon off-- wrapped up way quicker than expected, and I realized "The Hurt Locker" wasn't playing anymore, I wandered in here. Manipulative cheese, but well-built, and the Michael Lewis book on which it's based is strong source material. Bullock works her Erin Brocko-bitch nicely. I think I would have liked it better on a plane.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I give this review a 10.

I predict I will never see this film.

[Guest themetfairy]

D-Dad and I saw this tonight. It's good, although not great. A true story with solid performances, and it doesn't descend into sappiness.

It won't suffer from the small screen if you wait for it to come out on DVD. OTOH, it's not a bad film if you're looking to catch some Oscar nominations or are looking for a date film.

[Willets Point]

I read the book which was pretty good. The 2-minute trailer for the movie indicates that they totally Hallmarked the story. I won't be seeing it.

[Frayed Knot]

Willets Point wrote: I read the book which was pretty good. The 2-minute trailer for the movie indicates that they totally Hallmarked the story.

That's the main knock I'm hearing too; not that the movie is bad but that the story, rather than focusing on the kid and his horrid pre-"adoption" circumstances, revolves almost totally on Bullock's character and the kind-hearted white folks who rescue him - even to the point where he's portrayed as a big non-athletic klutz who wouldn't have learned the basics of football without their help.


Ya gotta wonder about Hollywood sometimes.
'Hey, we just got the rights to this best-seller with a great story in it ... now how should we go about totally changing it?'

[metirish]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: When my Midtown appointment-- for which I'd taken the afternoon off-- wrapped up way quicker than expected, and I realized "The Hurt Locker" wasn't playing anymore, I wandered in here. Manipulative cheese, but well-built, and the Michael Lewis book on which it's based is strong source material. Bullock works her Erin Brocko-bitch nicely. I think I would have liked it better on a plane.

Kids not even here and is being blamed for dad having to endure a Sandra Bullock movie , that's a bit harsh on the unborn one.

[Guest themetfairy]

Speaking of kids, the child actor in The Blind Side reminds me of a lost Culkin child (except the Culkins never played up cutesy to the extent that this kid did).

[ashie62]

Somehow, this reminds me of "Remember the Titans" but without the quality

[TransMonk]

If there is one actress in Hollywood whose presence in a movie makes me instantly not want to see that movie no matter how good it is supposed to be, it's Julia Roberts.

Sandra Bullock is a poor man's Julia Roberts.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ashie62 wrote: Somehow, this reminds me of "Remember the Titans" but without the quality

No coincidence. Same writer/director.

(And I'd say it's about the same sort of treatment, really... it's just that this material doesn't wear the cliches nearly as well.)

[Edgy MD]

Watching this NOW!!!! Nobody told me Tim McGraw was in it.

I don't know country superstars too well, and couldn't recognize Tim without the goatee, the hat, and/or maybe some spikes in his hair, but he doesn't look like him, he looks like Tug. Like a lot.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Edgy DC wrote: Watching this NOW!!!! Nobody told me Tim McGraw was in it. I don't know country superstars too well, and couldn't recognize Tim without the goatee, the hat, and/or maybe some spikes in his hair, but he doesn't look like him, he looks like Tug. Like a lot.

What's wrong with you? A Mets game is on.

This flick played on the plane I flew recently. Looked terrible.

[Edgy MD]

Game six, son. What the hell was wrong with you?

[Guest cooby]

It was okay. I saw it on the bus the other night.

Some things that came to mind were

-That little kid was annoying as hell and not funny at all and I'd like to drop kick him.

-Dad made an awful lot of money for a high school football coach and was terribly jovial for a dad of two married to Mrs B-O-W. Maybe it was a coping device.

-Mom was really not a nice person to be around so why did everyone like her? Oh, I mean why did anyone like her?

-The Joe Theisman part, though I saw it happen and remember it all these years later, totally had me scratching my head as to how it affected her life.

-What the heck kind of job does she have that she has gobs of free time to not only do personal or family things, but actually think and plan them out?

-And like someone said, the kid's story got lost in the family's story.


I'd like to see the same thing done from the kid's family's point of view; I'll bet it'd be different.

[Guest cooby]

viciously pancake-block your ass-looking ass into the next room.

that's pretty funny !

[Edgy MD]

Sounds like the kid of comprehension one gets watching a movie on a bus.

Dad wasn't a football coach but rather owned a string of fast food restaruants.

She was an interior designer.

The Theisman play in the prologue was to explain the defintiion of "the blind side" in a Tim McCarvery "assume the viewer is completely unfamilar with the sport" kind of way.

[Guest cooby]

Ah....!
Well, I was having some trouble seeing because I was on a bus with a bunch of my mom's friends and you know how old ladies' hair is always all curly on top?

An interior designer huh? I need me one of those gigs.

[Edgy MD]

I hear you.

I've never seen anything that ranked above modestly awful on a bus, but I think at least part of that has to do with the viewing experience.

[Vic Sage]

moderately engaging sports movie. I liked Bullock, loved "big mike". Hollywoodian, sure, but it works ok.

i'm reading the book now and loving it. Lewis is a terrific writer; glad to see MONEYBALL wasn't a fluke.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy DC wrote: Watching this NOW!!!! Nobody told me Tim McGraw was in it.

McGraw's merely looking to expand his acting range seeing as how his previous big movie experience was in 'Friday Night Lights' where he played a southerner who's the father of a HS football player as opposed to here where he ... oh wait!

I don't know country superstars too well, and couldn't recognize Tim without the goatee, the hat, and/or maybe some spikes in his hair, but he doesn't look like him, he looks like Tug. Like a lot.

If ol' Tugger had ever tried to contest that paternity suit when the kid got older the judge would have thrown him out of court before the DNA tests were even entered into evidence.
I believe any hair Tim's actually wearing these days, spiked or otherwise, is, how you say, ... purchased.