THE BLIND SIDE: Hollywood’s default setting

Ordinarily, getting my wife to watch a film with me simply because I state: “it’s supposed to be really good, it’s up for an Oscar!” isn’t enough to get her keen on viewing it. She has good reason to doubt my judgement, and once you’ve done the house duties and put the kiddies to sleep, what precious time you have left in the evening should not be spent on a dud film. In the case of The Blind Side, it was her telling me that we had to see it the first chance we got. Not because she was privy to any of the buzz, mind you. The poster alone could have sold her on it, but she didn’t even see that. She heard on the radio that it starred Sandra Bullock. Cast this actress in a film and you’ve got money from my wife, plus DVD sales, without question. Takes all sorts…

Curious, I asked my wife why she has such trust and gratification from an actress such as Sandra Bullock, and he reply was “she’s just easy-going, down to Earth, fun. And usually, so are her movies…” Fair call, I guess. But I was far from changing my schedule to allow time to see The Blind Side– it just wasn’t high on my to see list. That’s until I watched Sandra Bullock stand up and accept her Golden Globe for Best Actress, then follow it up with an Oscar nomination in the same category. Then it became a must-see. Could Sandra Bullock really have pulled this off? Sandra Bullock?

I’m tremendously happy that I didn’t know a single thing about the film when I saw it. I didn’t know it was about a white family taking in a beefy black boy and raising him as their own, helping him through schooling and eventually landing him a football scholarship. I also had no idea it was based on a true story. I mean, why would I? As an Australian I don’t follow American football and this film has seemingly come from nowhere. Hey, a bit like being Blind Side‘d… ahem. Moving on…

I’m somewhat aware of script rules and structure guidelines used when it comes to Hollywood’s productions. The Blind Side sticks to these rules like glue very obviously. If a film school lecturer ever wanted to pull out (yet another) film that slots straight into the beats-occur-here rules of a screenplay, this would be it. I’m aware that just about every film hits these storytelling points in their own unique way, but I often find that most plots are cleverly original or detailed enough to let the story override any upcoming predictable plot changes. However, this was not the case with The Blind Side. Each beat occurs just as it should at just the right moment. A complete and traditional rags to riches story. The kind Hollywood loves and audiences flock to see.

Due to this being such a standard format of film — serious drama with some pleasant comedy and a rags-to-riches plot based on a true story — I often think of films like The Blind Side as the ‘Hollywood default.’ Every year you’ll see films like this and they’re usually guaranteed money-makers. Sure, you’ll see superhero movies, too – and action films, and children’s films… but Blind Side films are truly for everybody. They blanket the demographic and sell TV rights with ease. Studios love them and so do you. Admit it…

So, is this a bad thing? Not exactly, no. The Blind Side is safe to watch. I say ‘safe’ because I was never jolted out of any comfort zones. I knew what I was in for five minutes in and the film proceeded to hit that pace with no problem. The result was an easy, enjoyable film that failed to leave a lasting impression. Even though the story is based on true events and very touching, the thing that might — or should — keep people talking about this film in the coming years is the performance of Sandra Bullock. She really does steal the film.

I had heard Bullock’s performance was extraordinary and encapsulated real-life Leigh Anne Tuohy perfectly. Having sat through the film I treated myself to some Leigh Anne Tuohy video interviews online for comparison and was genuinely surprised at how close Bullock really did get. Bullock has done a fine job of boxing up her usual flaky self and packing it away for the duration of this performance. She brought a whole new dimension to her ability. She’s raised the bar for herself, and to do so at such a stage in her career should be commended. She’s is also whole lot sexier, which doesn’t hurt one bit.

I’m reminded of another film that was almost equally emotional, based on a true story and starred an otherwise flaky actress who happened to get it right on that occasion and took home an Oscar. The film was Erin Brockovich and the actress was Julia Roberts. There are many parallels between these two films. I’m not sure if The Blind Side will be remembered like Erin Brockovich has, but for riding success on the back of Best Actress buzz, these two films are very much the same. Expect more dramatic roles for Sandra Bullock after she wins the Oscar. That, or Miss Congeniality 3.

Adding to the sub-title I’ve created of ‘Hollywood default’, everything else about the film smacks of normality. The editing, cinematography support performances and score are as they should be. Nothing cheap and nothing stellar.

The casting of Quinton Aaron as Michael “Big Mike” Oher paralleled the film in many ways, as the actor himself came from the streets portrayed in the film to become a lead in a  Hollywood motion picture– his very own rags-to-riches story. Aaron has been saying in interviews that the scenes where we see him as his character in the street, depressed and reflective, are simply him being himself. It was easy to conjure up feelings of both hopelessness and swing them into joyful feelings when this rich, white, Christian family takes him in, with Leigh Anne Tuohy (Bullock) leading the way. These scenes of ‘Big Mike’ alone in the street, moping about his situation in life were frequent enough that I was forced to deal with it in my own mind and contemplate just how good I have things. I can’t imagine being in his situation. I also can’t imagine having the same courage he had to follow through with his study and become a pro football player. That was awful nice of that well-off white family to help him, wasn’t it?

The obvious racial arguments sit right at the surface of this film, constantly clouding the image. And even though the film itself deals with the topic straight up, it still leaves a feeling that it didn’t exactly front-up like it could have. Perhaps it missed an opportunity to be a stand-out film about race. Or perhaps it simply never wanted to deal with it… just like me.

I’m not about to enter into any kind of racial commentary; I’m not qualified to tackle such topics. I’m just here to drop my thoughts about the film onto a blog via my keyboard. One can easily draw racial conclusions from just about anything, but what Director/Screenwriter John Lee Hancock (adapting from the Michael Lewis novel) did with The Blind Side was deliver an overly ‘white’ product… Umm… I’m just going to leave it at that.

See it for yourself to draw your own conclusions. All I can admit is, even though I’m Australian, I felt a certain guilt as a white, middle-class man as I watched The Blind Side. Perhaps that was the point? I just can’t think this film was that clever.

The Blind Side
71/100