Movie Reviews and more…
Is anyone else scratching their heads over why they’d remake The Karate Kid? OK, just so we are clear … here’s a first-look image from the movie, starring Jaden Smith (Will Smith’s son) and Jackie Chan, courtesy of Hitfix.com:
Jaden is a cute kid, I have to say. For more images from the movie, go to Hitfix.com.
Not surprising the Twilight machine keeps rolling along for a second week in a row, bringing in another $42.8 million. It’s just one of those films you can see over and over.
Here is the top five at the box office this weekend:
1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit Ent.) – $42.8 mil; 4,042 theaters; $10,606 PT; $230.9 mil cume
2. The Blind Side (Warner Bros.) – $40.1 mil; 3,140 theaters; $12,774 PT; $100.23 mil cume
3. 2012 (Sony) – $17.6 mil; 3,444 theaters; $5,125 PT; $138.4 mil cume
4. NEW! Old Dogs (Buena Vista) – $16.8 mil; 3,425 theaters; $4,933 PT; $24.2 mil cume (opened Weds.)
5. A Christmas Carol (Buena Vista) – $15.7 mil; 3,013 theaters; $5,230 PT; $104.9 mil cume
The sweeter success story this weekend, however, was for The Blind Side, which is gaining in popularity. This is a movie that sort of hits all the targets: football for the guys, Sandy for the girls and the feel-good message for the family. As far as the newcomers on the list, Old Dogs opened in fourth place, while the martial arts fest Ninja Assassin came in sixth with $13.3 million. Sorry Disney, but you’re sure to make some cash with The Princess and the Frog, which opens wide Dec. 11.
And for this coming weekend? That’s tough. We’ve got Everybody’s Fine, another family holiday heart-warmer starring Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell and Robert De Niro. That’s right, De Niro is playing warm and fuzzy. There’s also the family drama Brothers, starring Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire, about a triangle involving a soldier, his wife and his brother – not so warm and fuzzy. For those looking for a heist actioner, there’s Armored, starring Laurence Fishburne and Matt Dillion. And finally, a horror comedy called Transylmania. Don’t ask (cause I haven’t heard boo about this one). Oh, and the Oscar baiter Up in the Air, starring George Clooney, opens limitedly, to be expanded at the year’s end. I don’t know, maybe New Moon will win again or perhaps The Blind Side will overtake it. I’ll leave you with the Everybody’s Fine trailer, just in case:
Step 1: Do a nice job adapting a novel for the big screen. Carved almost verbatim from Cormac McCarthy’s compelling novel, The Road is a depressing, gut-wrenching journey that is strangely uplifting at its core.
Step 2: Find hope in the most dire of situations. The Road is one of those post-apocalyptic stories in which there are no Terminators, Mad Maxes or zombies, no good and evil forces divvying up the surviving population, no giant ark to save humanity. The Road is more about the reality of the situation. It’s about what survivors of some global catastrophe might do to stave off starvation and protect themselves from the elements. Some of those people might resort to horrible things to survive – and some might try to maintain life as they used to know it. In the later scenario, we meet a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who are just trying to get to a place where they can feel safe. Not the most cheerful of movies to watch, it is still affecting in a positive way – that maybe if it all goes to hell, some semblance of humanity will survive.
Step 3: Admire what looks to be very hard-to-do performances. From my interview with Mr. Mortensen, it is clear he and Smit-McPhee suffered for their art, playing out their scenes in the wet, cold outdoors. Mortensen even jumps naked into the freezing cold ocean at one point. Maybe they were taking the Method acting too far, but it sure does give their father-son relationship authenticity, which is the only way to get through this film. You’re invested from the beginning because these two have such a bond; you really want it to work out for them. Wouldn’t be surprised if Mortensen sees another Oscar nomination. Charlize Theron also makes a memorable cameo as the mother, who chooses another path for herself. She’s only onscreen for a brief time, told in flashbacks (much like the character was in the book), but she leaves an indelible impression. Also good in cameos are Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce – if you can spot them.
Step 4: Speaking of authenticity, make this sucker look REAL. Director John Hillcoat (The Proposition) paints a very grim picture indeed, but does so with real devastation, rather than manufactured. Shot mostly in Pennsylvania, some in Oregon and Washington State and a little in New Orleans, Hillcoat captures both natural and man-made destruction. Let’s just say, you won’t see part of the Statue of Liberty sticking up in the sand. And it really does follow the book very closely, which I can see might be a problem if you’ve read it. Again, I’d have to refer to Mortensen’s own words to explain: “If you see it, you are there but describing it, you’d think, ‘I don’t want to see that!’ Which is why a lot of people said it couldn’t be done. You can’t make an engaging, entertaining, beautiful, poetic movie from this book. It can’t be done. They were wrong. And if you see it, I find people will tell others they should see it.” He hits the nail on the head.
Level of difficulty in watching The Road: As a movie-going experience, it’s tough – but an experience you should have nonetheless.
Step 1: Might be best just to let these sleeping Old Dogs lie. This incredibly loony comedy sort of demeans everyone involved.
Step 2: Follow this formula, dammit, or by god, there will be hell to pay! Is it me or is every live-action family flick from Disney these days involve die-hard bachelors suddenly having to take care of kids? There was The Game Plan, Escape to Witch Mountain, and now Old Dogs, which centers on two live-long friends and business partners, who finds themselves saddled with 7-year-old twins. It seems Dan (Robin Williams) spent an impulsive night out on the town with his best bud Charlie (John Travolta) seven years ago, married a woman, Vicki (Kelly Preston), got it annulled the next day – and now comes to find out twins were conceived during that time. Oy, vey! She’s in a bind for childcare, for reasons too silly to mention, and has to leave the kids (Ella Bleu Travolta and Conner Rayburn) with their dad, who then turns to Charlie for help. Here’s the kicker: This unexpected babysitting gig comes right at a time the two are about to close a multi-million dollar deal with a Japanese company. OY, VEY! It’s time to move on, Disney.
Step 3: Pick a better family comedy to star in. Certainly Travolta and Williams have each starred in their fair share of feel-good family comedies, but for their first outing together in this arena, they should have held out for funnier material. Old Dogs just isn’t up to par. I take that back, it fits Travolta pretty well, since he’s good at delivering the breezy, superficial stuff this kind of movie dishes out. It’s Williams. With his comedy, I always want him to be snarky and naughty, with the million personalities and the rapid-fire delivery. I mean, watch his David Letterman appearance from the other night:
That’s the Williams I know and love. I’ll even settle for Mrs. Doubtfire, not the old fart doing slapstick comedy in Old Dogs. Sigh. Actually, there is a saving grace in the form of Seth Green, who plays the guys’ young upstart employee. He does the hit-in-the-balls bit kind of hilariously, as well as singing to a 500-pound gorilla while being cradled.
Step 4: Speaking of, hit ‘em in the balls and watch the hilarity ensue. OK, I fully admit I am not a fan of what I call calamity comedy, that sort of over-the-top slapstick when one thing after another goes wrong, and it’s supposed to send us into laughter convulsions. You know, that Three Stooges scenario. But it just seems so very silly. There isn’t anything clever about it, no thought behind it at all. Just throw stuff up and hope it sticks. Now, get a group of guys, like the Jackass crew, and watch them hurt themselves in any number of hilarious situations, THAT’S funny.
Level of difficulty in watching Old Dogs: Moderately easy. I guess if you like that kind of thing …
Step 1: Combine the late Roald Dahl’s clever storytelling, director Wes Anderson’s cinematic sensibilities and an engaging vocal cast and you’ve got the animated Fantastic Mr. Fox — one quirky, dangerous, sweet and entirely entertaining flick.
Step 2: Flesh out the story a bit. Anderson and his writing partner Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) had to pump up Dahl’s original classic so that it could be made into a more complete film. While the book really only focused on three farmers – Boggis, Bunce and Bean: “One fat, one short, one lean. These horrible crooks, so different in looks, were nonetheless equally mean” – and their murderous intent on catching the sly, chicken-stealing Mr. Fox, the film paints a more complete picture of Fox (George Clooney) and his life underground. His loving wife (Meryl Streep) wants him to settle down and take a less hazardous job, while his moody adolescent son (Jason Schwartzman) just wants to gain his dad’s approval. Fox, however, is bored with the mundane and moves his family into a tree house, overlooking the three Boggis, Bunce and Bean farms, all brimming with temptations Foxy can’t resist. Fox ends up getting his family – and most of the surrounding woodland animals – in trouble with the farmers, BUT he also ends up saving the day. In a way.
Step 3: Don’t talk down to kids; they can handle it. While I still think Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are does the job, I will admit the director may have faltered by making WTWTA a bit too cerebral for the wee ones. Anderson, however, takes his cue from Dahl, who was a master at keeping a child’s attention while adding enough wit and mean-spiritedness for adults to enjoy. Plus, Anderson’s peculiar style meshes so very well with Dahl’s own peculiarities, it’s like Anderson was destined to make a movie based on a Roald Dahl story. I sort of feel the same way about Tim Burton remaking Alice in Wonderland.
Step 4: Speaking of Tim Burton, don’t let the stop-motion animation stop you. While this technique is still one of the most painstakingly detailed form of animation, so visually cool, Anderson wanted Fantastic Mr. Fox to go one step further than just the usual animated fare. Instead of the actors sitting separately in sound booths to record their parts, the director set it up where the actors met in the English countryside and did their parts almost as a radio play, with everything being recorded as they acted it out. I’m sure this was the only way Anderson COULD do it, if wanted the film to be distinctly his, and it pays off. The dialogue seems much more organic, and Anderson employs some of his favorites, including Schwartzman, Bill Murray as Badger, Willem Dafoe as Rat, Michael Gambon as Mr. Bean and Owen Wilson as Coach Skip. Adding Clooney and Streep to the mix is just pure genius. Wouldn’t be surprised is Clooney joined the Anderson gang permanently, but then Wes would have to fight the Coen brothers, Grant Heslov or Steven Soderbergh for Clooney’s time.
Level of difficulty in watching Fantastic Mr. Fox: Easy as reading one of Roald Dahl’s books. Did you know he wrote the screenplay for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? The creepy Child Catcher who steals kids and puts them in cages makes a lot more sense to me now.
Viggo Mortensen is just as introspective as you’d expect him to be – especially when he’s talking about his latest film, The Road, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel. Mortensen and his young co-star Kodi Smit-McPhee play a father and son who are left to live in a world gone ka-blooey, fighting for their lives against insurmountable odds, such as the cold, harsh elements, starvation, cannibalistic survivors. Yeah, not the most happy of topics to discuss with the man who used to be Aragon, but the soft-spoken actor tells us in great detail the emotional journey he and Smit-McPhee went on making this film, experiences that were daunting, exhaustive – and almost poetic.
Step 1: Read Cormac McCarthy’s book to stay inspired
Viggo Mortensen: “The moment I read [the script], I went out and got the book. I hadn’t read it yet, even though I had read all of Cormac McCarthy’s books, and it was some book. And the script was a very faithful adaptation. But I was reluctant [to do the movie]. I had initially said I don’t think so. I told my agent I was really worn out, I won’t be focused. And then I looked at the story and thought, ‘Well, you know, being worn out might work.’ There were times when it was just bubbling under the surface, being too tired, annoyed, kinda depressed. Sometimes it did help. But then – you can’t put something in there that isn’t in the story just to distract people. You can but then it’s not done the right way. But how do you keep it from being flat? OK, enough with the suffering already, yet you trust the story, and there are so many things learned along the way, and the interactions with people and the environment and from each other, not always agreeing, you just have to trust what Cormac McCarthy wrote. And because the script was a very faithful adaptation, you just have to trust that book, that there are inherently dramatic situations and moments, the overall predicament, stripped away, what do you do? How do you behave? How do you treat others? Do you even care anymore about being alive? Do you know why you want to stay alive? Do you find out a reason to stay alive by the end? I think, yes you do and THAT is interesting.”
Step 2: Then talk to Cormac McCarthy
Mortensen: “I talked to him one time before shooting, a relatively long conversation. We just talked about my kid, his kid, being dads. And at the end of the conversation, he asked me if I had any questions. He hadn’t read the script and he didn’t want to read the script, which is unusual for a writer. He says ‘It’s a different medium, you guys just do your thing, but do you have any questions about the book?’ I mean, I had a pad, 50 post-it notes in the book, not one but TWO pens in case one ran out of ink, I was ready to pick his brains. But when he asked, I said, ‘Nah, I don’t really’ because [what we talked about] was all I needed to get going. That there is something universal about this adult and this child. I think that’s why this book has had such a reach, more so than any other [Cormac McCarthy] book, even though with No Country for Old Men‘s Oscar success. It’s so heartfelt and so free of gimmickry, this story. It transcends cultures and languages, which makes it a very successful book. And a lot of people are looking forward to seeing the movie, which makes me hopeful because it’s a daunting kind of movie.”
Step 3: Prepare to strip your soul bare
Mortensen: “Very different from any other role I’ve done, just how much I had to throw away. Because really it’s about being naked emotionally and just be honest about it. In subtle ways and in ways that are more obvious. But it had to be real, very organic, which was the most daunting thing. Not so much the physical journey we would make if this was going to be done properly, but what I would have to expose, from here [he points to his heart]. I thought I might need some help, especially from the boy. I hoped they’d find a great boy. I read with the last four, and Kodi was the very last one. There was just something about him, he at least understood the story in a way that maybe the other kids didn’t. I mean, he’s a joyful, well-adjusted kid, but there’s something in his eyes when he was playing those scenes, even in those auditions, that was sad, knowing. I thought, ‘Wow, this could work’ cause I was really worried if we didn’t have a great kid, it wouldn’t matter what I did.”
Step 4: Protect the kid because, man, he goes through some rough stuff
Mortensen: “It was hard emotionally, but what helped us and what he didn’t like, was the fact we were so cold and wet all the time, tired. Particularly cold for Kodi because he is from Southern Australia, although you couldn’t tell from listening to him in the movie. He’d never seen snow, and the first day it was snowing and very cold. He couldn’t believe how cold it was, and it wore him out pretty quickly, which pushed his emotions to the surface – and mine. It made me more protective of him in that way. Just trying to get him through the day, and the next day. It’s kind of like the story, in a way. Had it been shot with green screen, it wouldn’t have been the same. Yes, he’s a good little actor, and together, we would have made it seem like we were cold, but it wouldn’t have worked the same. Because it was so difficult in a way, for both [me and Kodi], we both grew to be very close friends and found a sense of satisfaction for having gone through it. ”
Step 5: Remember what it was like to be a kid, realizing your parents weren’t gods
Mortensen: “When I started doing the movie, I thought about my own son quite a bit. And that transition that he also made in his pre-adolescence. Kodi reminded me of my son a lot, the character in the movie, kind of wise beyond his years. And that transition you see in the story, when the kid is calling his dad out on his straying from path that he had been teaching his son. I remember that phase [when his son did the same thing] and how I didn’t much like it but learned to accept it when he was right. That’s universal. Any parent who has a relatively consistent relationship with their kids, no matter how good or bad it is, there comes a point in adolescence when they look at their dad or their mom or both of them and realize that they are not gods. And then they rip them. Because it’s such a shock, you want your dad to be that and then they’re not; it’s massively disappointing. You know what I mean? But it’s natural that it happens and sometimes, even really good kids, can be brutal by tearing that adult off the pedestal that they thought they were on. And it can be hard to take as an adult, but you have to find a way to take it eventually. Then, what’s interesting in life, is as you get older – I remember being that way towards my dad, and when I got into my late 20s, early 30s, I realized I wasn’t a god either. It takes awhile, because if you are tearing something down off the pedestal, it means you are putting yourself above it in some way. And you don’t realize it in some way, it’s instinctive.”
Step 6: Research by talking to homeless people
Mortensen: “I did speak to them just to ask them how they got this way and how they felt about it. Not all of them would want to talk, which was fine, like anybody in life. Very rarely, but some were living that way by choice. Some lost their job, some it was drugs. Mostly it was just financial hardship, there was no other thing they could do. And how they felt about it, how they kept alive, and what things they worried about. Have to figure out where they were going to sleep so no one could do them harm or steal their stuff.”
Step 7: Worried that the world may end as we know it
Mortensen: “Of course, sure I do. Even though it’s not explained [in The Road], you believe the emotional journey, believe the visual, the landscape, it’s real. We shot in real places that had been devastated by nature AND by man. This made me think more about my son, my family and just about how life is, that it is worth making that effort to see more, learn more. To appreciate it. It’s a very simple idea in a way. No matter what the excuse not to be kind, it’s always better to be kind. Simple. But if you make this journey honestly as a spectator or as us filmmakers, you earn the right to come to that simple conclusion and you understand in a profound way. In a lot of the Q&A screenings, I noticed in the first few rows that they were crying or had been crying, obviously moved, but they have a hint of a smile at the same time. So somehow the ending is strangely uplifting. And I see reflected in their faces exactly how I felt telling the story. Even though I know this film backwards and forwards, the first time I saw it still affected me so viscerally.”
Step 8: Could you survive in this scenario?
Mortensen: “I don’t know. I don’t know if I’d have the courage to keep going if it looked impossible. I’d like to think I would. I’m actually better with a gun than he is, more comfortable. He’s learned to be, but needed to make it seem that way. Not like an action guy. And he is constantly reminding himself and the kid of what to do.”
Step 9: Realize an Oscar nomination can help spread the word
Mortensen: “If you see it, you are there but describing it, you’d think, ‘I don’t want to see that!’ Which is why a lot of people said it couldn’t be done. You can’t make an engaging, entertaining, beautiful, poetic story movie from this book. It can’t be done. They were wrong. And if you see it, I find people will tell others they should see it. It’s a very word-of-mouth movie – and there’s no better word-of-mouth than reading in a newspaper, ‘Oh, nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor.’ It would help this movie get seen, I know that. It would help any movie, but especially a movie like this. As far as the likelihood of that happening? I don’t know. I was sure with A History of Violence that David Cronenberg would be nominated for Best Director and it would get a Best Picture nomination, but it didn’t get that. Then for Eastern Promises, I ended up getting nominated for every ceremony. It was like ‘Wow, how did that happen?’ So you just never know. But I know with a movie like this, it would be really helpful.
I had asked the question on how much New Moon would make its opening weekend, but did anyone think it would gross $140 million, making it the third largest opening of all time (behind The Dark Knight at $158 million and Spider-Man 3 at $151 million)? I didn’t guess THAT much, but really, it isn’t that surprising considering the Twilight saga’s huge following.
Here is the top five at the box office this weekend:
1. NEW! The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Summit Ent) – $140.7 mil; 4,024 theaters; $34,965 PT
2. NEW! The Blind Side (Warner Bros.) – $34.5 mil; 3,110 theaters; $11,096 PT
3. 2012 (Sony) – $26.5 mil; 3,408 theaters; $7,776 PT; $108.2 mil cume
4. NEW! Planet 51 (Sony) – $12.6 mil; 3,035 theaters; $4,152 PT
5. A Christmas Carol (Buena Vista) – $12.2 mil; 3,578 theaters; $3,418 PT; $79.7 mil cume
Of course, everything else pales in comparison, but opener The Blind Side fared pretty well with a decent second place offering, while the other newcomer Planet 51 floundered a bit in fourth place.
And for this coming Thanksgiving weekend, we’ve got a few choices, including: the Disney family comedy Old Dogs, starring Robin Williams and John Travolta; the actioner Ninja Assassins (which is self-explanatory); the expanded release of the delightful Fantastic Mr. Fox; and the dark Oscar contender The Road, starring Viggo Mortensen. If anything could beat New Moon, it might be Old Dogs (trailer below), but I highly doubt that will happen. The Edward-Bella-Jacob triangle should be on top again for a second week in a row.
Step 1: Chalk this one up to bad timing. After all the other animated CGI films this year, Planet 51 just feels like a rehash, and not nearly as charming as it wants to be.
Step 2: Add more oomph to the premise. Planet 51 starts off as a reversal of misfortune. An American astronaut, Capt. Charles “Chuck” Baker (Dwayne Johnson), lands on Planet 51 in order to planet a flag but finds it’s already inhabited by a population of little green people, who are basically stuck in a ’50s Ozzy and Harriet episode and are desperately afraid of being invaded by, well, aliens. It’s the AMERICAN that’s the alien this time, get it? Chuck manages to escape capture by the army and eventually befriends a local named Lem (Justin Long), who tries to let the rest of his world know Chuck isn’t a monster, as well as help Chuck get back to his spaceship so he go home on time. Yeah, it doesn’t really get much better after that.
Step 3: More comedy, less silliness. It tries to make all these pop culture references (which I’m getting real tired of), as well as paying homage to every alien-type movie there is, from E.T. to Alien to War of the Worlds and all those bad 1950s sci-fi B-movies. None of it hits home, unfortunately, not like say the already released and hilarious Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. And there lies the rub for Planet 51: its vocal cast – including Long, Johnson, Jessica Biel (as Lem’s object of desire), Gary Oldman (the army general) and Seann William Scott (Lem’s alien-obsessed friend) – can’t really measure up to Cloudy‘s Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris and Andy Samberg in terms of laughs. In fact, Cloudy – and the rest of the more stellar animated competition released this year — casts a big shadow over Planet 51.
Level of difficulty in watching Planet 51: Eh, fair to moderate. Maybe if they had waited a year to release, it could have stood out a little more.
I’d rather step away from the critic’s circle this time, if you don’t mind. I’m fairly certain none of the millions of fans of the Twilight movies could give a rat’s ass what a jaded film critic thinks about it. And so, I’m not going to be one.
Instead, I’m going to stand up for the films, particularly New Moon. Look, I might be a 40-ish mother of two, but there is no way I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a teenager again. All those raw emotions. And I am NOT alone. Women of all ages – and men, who are in touch with their romantic side – go gaga over the tortured romance of it all. Granted, both Twilight and New Moon are over-the-top melodramas of the highest order , but I think that’s why they are so popular (and better told onscreen than read in the books, in my opinion). In the first film, Bella finds who – we women can all admit – is almost the most ideal boyfriend: Edward is handsome, mysterious, aloof, but then once in love, completely dedicated and protective. He talks to Bella, listens to her, holds her hand. It isn’t about sex because, well, he’s a vampire and he might hurt her. One of the sexier love scenes EVER on film is when she wants to kiss him, in her room, but he tells her not to move. Man, Robert Pattinson slayed me.
Then, the saga continues. Just when you think it’ll all be perfect, in New Moon said perfect boyfriend rips out his beloved’s heart (just literally, not figuratively) by leaving her. It’s all in the guise of protecting her, but Bella is crushed, almost beyond repair. Like Kristen Stewart said in her press conference, “I know what’s it like to get broken up with, but I don’t know what it’s like to get broken up with by a vampire, who I’ve now been physically and chemically altered by. Suddenly, you take an addict, you take whatever they’re addicted to away from them, and there’s withdrawal.” That’s exactly how Stewart plays it. You totally feel her pain, like you were 16 again and you break up with YOUR first love.
But then there’s Jacob, Bella’s friend, who is there to help her pick up the pieces. He was, at first, a sort of puppy dog in Twilight, pining after Bella, but when she sees him again in New Moon, he’s suddenly a strapping young man, who clearly has the hots for her, and is transforming into something as equally as powerful as a vampire. As if Bella didn’t already think the world was a strange enough place with vampires, she is now also faced with the fact that werewolves, the vampires’ mortal enemies, also exist. Taylor Lautner truly stepped up with this one, not only physically but in his performance. And I love the fact the wolf pack are guys from a Native American tribe who have been dormant until the vampire Cullen family arrives. It’s a clever bit of storytelling.
So, here’s Jacob – a sweet, hunky, warm-blooded werewolf – and Edward – swoon-worthy, tortured, cold-blooded vampire — who are both in love with the same mortal girl. I mean, COME ON! How perfect is that love triangle? It’s AWESOME, is what it is. So, I don’t mind the cheesy dialogue. I don’t care whether the films should appeal to the male demographic with more “action” scenes. And I certainly don’t feel ashamed about ogling the shirtless eye candy; in fact, it’s refreshing to see men objectified for a change. All I want is to see how this will all turn out onscreen, because Bella has got some TOUGH choices ahead.
Step 1: Take a real-life story like The Blind Side, which on the surface sounds pretty sappy, and turn it into something honest, heartfelt and surprisingly inspirational.
Step 2: Appreciate random acts of kindness. When Memphis socialite Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) spots a large black teenager named Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) walking in the cold rain one evening, she performs an act of kindness by inviting the homeless Michael into her car, and then into her house for the night. Leigh Anne, her husband Sean (Tim McGraw) and their two kids decide to take the under-educated Michael into their care, even though the young man – who has come from a hard life, living in the Memphis projects – is at first hesitant to accept such generosity. Soon, however, the Tuohys are helping the gentle, unassuming Michael achieve his potential in the classroom, as well as on the football field, as he becomes a first-class offensive left tackle, recruited by all the top Southern colleges. But the surprising thing to the Tuohys is how much Michael changes their lives, too. Yes, tears may flow a bit but not as much as you think.
Step 3: Remember one thing: Sandra Bullock can act. Although she’s played a lot of silly in her career, she has and continues to portray her characters very winningly. Her take on this fast-talking, no-nonsense Southern woman doesn’t seem much of a stretch either, but Bullock dives into it head first and shows us many layers to this real woman most of us have never met. This may be Bullock’s first real chance at an Oscar nomination, but in my opinion, I think she’s got something deeper, grittier inside of her that she’ll unveil at some point and perhaps win the little gold guy.
Step 4: Support Bullock. The rest of cast are also quite engaging, starting with newcomer Quinton Aaron, who plays Michael with a soulful sweetness, a real gentle giant. Leigh Anne actually refers to him as Ferdinand the Bull – you know, the story about a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight in the bull ring. Country-singer McGraw does a nice job as the patient and understanding husband, married to a whirlwind of a multi-tasker. But the biggest standout is Jae Head, as the Tuohy’s youngest child Sean Jr., or S.J. for short. This little kid is hilarious as he easily accepts Michael as his big brother and then actually coaches him in football. Apparently, the real S.J. and Michael are so close, the boy was a big factor in the negotiations with the college coaches [played in the movie by the real men] trying to recruit Michael. They all had to offer S.J. something, like leading the team onto the field the first game, as part of the bargain.
Step 5: Learn a little something in the process. The Blind Side is based on a book by Michael Lewis, who not only stumbled upon this amazing true story from his old classmate, Sean Tuohy, but also found a way to emphasize the importance of the left tackle position, which requires almost ballet-like agility. The blind side is a football term, referring to the blind spot behind a quarterback when he is passing, and the offensive left tackle is the player assigned to protect the quarterback from a blitz or from a defender blocking the pass. The position’s importance used to be overlooked – that is until the 1985 career-ending sack of Redskin quarterback Joe Thiesman, in which a defender tackled him from his blind side, breaking his leg in two places. Now, apparently, a left tackle’s salary is only second to the quarterbacks. They need their bodyguards.
Step 6: Pump that emotion only a true story can elicit. Thankfully, writer/director John Lee Hancock successfully navigates through the schmaltz and delivers an atypical inspirational film about family, football – and really, the importance of helping other people. Combining the story of Leigh Anne Tuohy’s remarkable connection to her adopted son Michael Oher with Michael’s ascent to football stardom simply works as a narrative. I believe this is actually better than Rudy (No! She said that?). And for the real Michael Oher, the story keeps getting better. After playing for the Tuohy’s alma mater Ole Miss, he was drafted last April to join the Baltimore Ravens. The real-life photos [one pictured above] during the end credits bring a tear to the eye.
Level of difficulty in watching The Blind Side: As easy as a smoothing sailing pass to a running back, successfully accomplished by blocking those defenders.
