A book with a horrible cover...

The Blind Side - John Lee Hancock

You may wonder what the title of this review may refer to but i think the phrase, never judge a book by its cover, is basically the mantra of the latest surprise hit The Blind Side. Well not latest, as it was released on DVD earlier on in the year, but I’ve only just gotten round to peeking it out after willing never to watch another Sandra Bullock film in my life. And i was sadly judging her film career and her acting ability, let’s start off by saying The Blind Side is a good film. The subject is something I’ve been interested in recently, NFL or American Football, a sport which seems to be gaining a bigger audience in the UK. With the TV show Friday Night Lights and big video game franchise Madden along with the massive event of the Super Bowl, American Football seems to be growing in size and I’m glad. It’s a decent sport which seems to entertain more than anything. And having a film about a certain player who had a bad upbringing and found his way onto the field is inspiring and something that can easily entertain a lot of people. Of course throw in modern music and cultural references we know of and you’ve got a hit. A hit in America, winning Oscar nominations and such and also sweeping at the MTV Movie Awards; which did open my eyes to the film, but i was still hesitant to dive into a Bullock film. I don’t like Sandra Bullock and the film she makes, they are for a certain audience and a certain person who is stuck in their ways. It’s annoying.

Back to the film and the plot, a black child is brought into a Christian white family’s house and soon begins living there to hopefully mould him into a better person. Having the strong mother Bullock, she comforts the shy quiet boy and helps him become smarter and gets him into a sport he was destined to play, American Football. It’s a sob story, rags to riches but with a cool soundtrack and including elements of normal life like a shitty neighbourhood or your mother being addicted to crack or being racially abused by people. It has themes we’ve all seen, but i think the goodness comes from the lead actors portray, it’s a mix of sadness and a heavy dose of inspiration, where a kid this low in society’s pecking order can rise and become a famous player. Yes this is based on a real story, so the feeling that the film was made for the biography channel for MTV is somewhat apparent, but you may be surprised by how much you kinda like it but can’t admit it.

It’s likeable in parts but not as great as other sport movies like Remember The Titans, Mighty Ducks or The Karate Kid (Does that count as a sport movie?), i recommend it for a date or something easy to watch.

5/10

Simon Childs