You can thank me later. It's later.

Film: The Blind Side
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, and Quinton Aaron
Synopsis: The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.
Grade: B-


Husband and I went out to see this movie last weekend and were slightly disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the story is amazing. I am all for helping someone help themselves reach their potential. My problem and disappointment has nothing to do with the story itself - it stems from the execution of the film. Movies based on true stories are hard to do in a 2 hour time frame. Reality has many details that go into shaping lives, details have back stories, back stories take time to tell, and time is money. Basically this film had editing issues. I'm sure the rough edit was much longer and many scenes were cut to condense for time, but it seemed to me that the final cut should have been edited a little more to tie up lose ends to give the story a more continuous flow. There were a few moments were I was confused because there just wasn't enough background given about a character or someone was given a significant amount of screen time only to be lost and forgotten in the movie 2 seconds later for no obvious reason. Small characters need to tell their story, if necessary to the story line, and give closure before they give their exit or at least another character needs to give that part of the story closure. For example, Micheal was brought to a private high school by Big Tony, a man who often cared for him. Big Tony had about 5 minutes in the beginning of the film where he pleaded the case for his son Steve and for Micheal to attend the school. The boys got into the school, Big Tony cannot care for him anymore, and Micheal lives on the streets while still attending the private school. I want to know what happened to Steve. he apparently attended the school as well and was into sports (notice: the same sports) as Micheal so where was he? I needed something for closure, like a scene that included Steve on the basketball court or on the bench during a game, but had nothing. On a positive note, I really enjoyed Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy. That character is all sorts of feisty. This movie had the potential for greatness, but fell a little short. The story was done a disservice from whoever edited the film. I would watch it again, but not until it is released on DVD and I've got a free redbox rental.