Blind Sided
I fully expected to dislike much of The Blind Side, assuming it would be patronising racism that's swimming in Americana but dressed in lovey sentimentalism. Being an under-cover sentimentalist myself, the question I was asking before the cinema went dark was whether the dressing would disguise enough of the bitter taste I was expecting to ensure I found the experience likable.
To my surprise and delight, I enjoyed the movie immensely, presented simply as a kind and generous family that does one small favour for a cold and homeless kid. That good, Christian favour leads to another, and another, and another until said kid winds up a superstar football player.
Sure it's two dimensional story-telling but, frankly, in a movie world seemingly fixated on destroying blue and alien worlds or following slightly nuts bomb squads across war-torn Iraq, a well-scripted, well- acted completely feel-good film is so welcome I'm almost compelled to throw a party for it.
Much of the draw for me was Sandra Bullock. Her Leigh Anne was bossy and tough like English steak but generous and wonderful to watch. I now fully endorse the Oscar she was awarded. I may have said previously that it was like giving the Booker prize to Dr Seuss but now I realise it's much more like giving the little gold man to Julia Robert's for Erin Brockovich. In both cases I think much of the affection I felt had more to do with the actress than the character she was playing; Sandra could find a way to make crocs endearing.
Something she succeeded in selling me on, for those two hours anyway, was the warmth of Christians; not the people that drag themselves out on a Sunday to Church but the people that give of themselves because it's the right thing to do. This movie has singlehandedly done more for Christianity's PR than the Catholic Church has managed in the last two millennia.
I don't care if it's riddled with historical inaccuracies. For that magic two hour period, I was able to suspend my disbelief and believe that out there, somewhere, are people that show that we can do better by each other. And that's something we don't often pay an admission price to see.
To my surprise and delight, I enjoyed the movie immensely, presented simply as a kind and generous family that does one small favour for a cold and homeless kid. That good, Christian favour leads to another, and another, and another until said kid winds up a superstar football player.
Sure it's two dimensional story-telling but, frankly, in a movie world seemingly fixated on destroying blue and alien worlds or following slightly nuts bomb squads across war-torn Iraq, a well-scripted, well- acted completely feel-good film is so welcome I'm almost compelled to throw a party for it.
Much of the draw for me was Sandra Bullock. Her Leigh Anne was bossy and tough like English steak but generous and wonderful to watch. I now fully endorse the Oscar she was awarded. I may have said previously that it was like giving the Booker prize to Dr Seuss but now I realise it's much more like giving the little gold man to Julia Robert's for Erin Brockovich. In both cases I think much of the affection I felt had more to do with the actress than the character she was playing; Sandra could find a way to make crocs endearing.
Something she succeeded in selling me on, for those two hours anyway, was the warmth of Christians; not the people that drag themselves out on a Sunday to Church but the people that give of themselves because it's the right thing to do. This movie has singlehandedly done more for Christianity's PR than the Catholic Church has managed in the last two millennia.
I don't care if it's riddled with historical inaccuracies. For that magic two hour period, I was able to suspend my disbelief and believe that out there, somewhere, are people that show that we can do better by each other. And that's something we don't often pay an admission price to see.