"The Blind Side" - I can't fully judge this due to my "Blind Side"

The Blind Side is a sports drama based on the novelized true story The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) is an 18-year-old male who has been enrolled in many different high schools and his GPA is a 0.6 due to his failure to answer any questions on tests. He is practically homeless and resides in a broken foster home - he hasn't seen his mother in ages and his father passed away, and little else is known about him - many of his records have not been recovered. However, he has a knack for playing sports, especially football, and is somewhat more experienced in that area than any book/knowledge area. One day, Michael goes to a Christian school that takes him in, and he is greeted by a kid named S.J. Touhy (Jae Head), son of home designer Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock) and restauranteer Sean Touhy (Tim McGraw). The Touhys take Michael in to live with him, and they tutor and take care of him until his grades improve enough for spring football... but as his grades improve, he is invited to several colleges. What will he choose, and how will it affect the Touhys? How will he excel in football? And who is really benefiting from this, Michael or Leigh? In a subplot, the Toughy's teen daughter Collins (Lily Collins) wishes to become a cheerleader.

So I first saw the trailer to this film before Shorts (personally, I think that's a strange choice of a film to put this trailer before, due to the vast difference in demographics) back in August. It looked pretty interesting, but cheesy. Later, after walking into a bookstore, I learned that Michael Oher actually made it into the NFL. That greatly aroused my curiosity. I eagerly waited for this film, and when I saw it, my expectations were met. This is personally my favorite film of the year (replacing Whip It as my #1, which, ironically, is also about sports). I literally cried during the first half, especially when we found out about his mother. I definitely want to read the book, but I recently heard the real Michael Oher did not like the film because he thought it was an insult to his skills prior to being taken in by the Touhys. I figured as much that it was an exaggeration for artistic purposes. As much as I enjoyed it, however, I feel it did have its flaws. For one, I'm not the biggest sports expert, and much of the last half of the film focused a bit more on football than the characters. My mind sorta just wandered when they went into detail about it, except for the parts about "Cover his blind side!" and "Protect them the way you would your family!" (using other terms for football). As well, they sort of glossed over Collins' subplot, making her role in the movie more minor than the average subplot or supporting character. Nonetheless, a great movie, and definitely one I would buy (I heard it is being considered for an Oscar, and I'd like to see it win one).

The film got a PG-13 rating, and as you'd expect from a sports film, you can expect football-related violence. Michael and S.J. also crash a car, with Michael having blood on his arm and S.J. being okay (turns out Michael took most of the blow). As his broken foster home, Michael attacls a thug, who points a gun at him, triggering a memory of his past (not sure if I should tell you about it, may spoil too much). As for sexuality, Leigh Anne wears some cleavage-bearing tops in some scenes, and is hit on indirectly by the thugs at Michael's foster home. The word "tit" is used twice, once in reference to a "titty bar" and the other as part of an instruction for blocking in football (Michael is told to put his hands "between [the other player's] tits"), and when Michael starts looking at college girls, Leigh Anne says that if he impregnates a girl, she will drive up there and cut off his penis. Much of the drug use is spoilers, but I'll talk about it privately.

If you're into sports movies, dramas, sports dramas, or Sandra Bullock, definitely check this out. It will wipe All About Steve right out of your head and will redeem Sandra Bullock if you are one of the many who despised that film. (Note that this is Sandra Bullock's biggest opening weekend, the previous one being The Proposal from earlier this year, and remained #2 at the box office behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon for two weeks in a row, with a rare increase in its second weekend while New Moon dropped 70%. There's a chance that this weekend it could actually top New Moon's weekend gross.) And stay tuned during the credits for a set of aftermath photos.