I was touched by the story of Michael Oher back in 2006 when I read "The Ballad of Big Mike" by Michael Lewis, a New York Times Magazine profile. I remember thinking that the story of this young man and his adoptive family would make a compelling movie. So did a whole bunch of other people, obviously, including Sandra Bullock. She nails the part.
To add a little brown sugar to the already tasty grapefruit of the feature film, one of the movie trailers shown before The Blind Side was a preview of Invictus, a based-on-a-true-story-of-the-1995-Rugby-world-cup film directed by Clint Eastwood, with Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and a very, very buff Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the South African Rubgy team captain. (His pectoral muscles might need their own mention in the film credits.)
Here's the thing: I love inspirational sports movies! I have a soft spot for training sequences and triumphant slo-mo game scenes and nail-biting come-from-behind redemption tales. Sports movies bring out the hyphen lover in me, obviously. They often give me a big dose of hope.
(SEE Friday Night Lights, Heaven Can Wait, Riding Giants, The Sandlot, Rocky I, II & III, Seabiscuit, Bend It Like Beckham, Hoop Dreams, Hoosiers, Rudy, The Natural, Glory Road, The Bad News Bears, Remember the Titans, Chariots of Fire, Lords of Dogtown, Field of Dreams, and Spellbound, technically a spelling bee movie but one with all the required cliches and emotional rewards I expect from a great sports film!)
(Do not SEE Blue Crush.)
My children help me live out my sports fantasies as well. Who needs a movie when I can attend one of their games/lessons/matches? This year brought Annie's triumphant performance at the mini-Olympics and Graham's lengthy/cheerworthy season as a Lugnut.
8 comments:
We are going to see that tonight. Glad to hear another good review!!
Hahahha. I enjoyed Blue Crush as I seem to be the only person who skipped the seriously lame and lewd parts. oops.
I LOVE a good sports triumph movie. I feel fit for a few brief moments while they train.
Jon is here saying, " I love a feel good sports movie too, like Million dollar baby. that makes me want to run out and be a boxer" (he is laughing). oops.
Melissa Anderson offers an interestingly different view of The Blind Side at http://bit.ly/87GEtS
A very fair comment, Carl. I was uncomfortable with the portrayal of the crack dealer/project stuff ... and I think the story line would be totally inappropriate EXCEPT it's based on a true story. I think the film also does a decent job of addressing these concerns.
Is the movie racist? Hmmm. There is a scene where Big Mike has to talk to an NCAA investigator, for example, and the Tuohys do question their own motives ... but yeah, the race dynamic is awkward in places. However, I do not place the blame solely on the movie. I am sure that such a dynamic exists in the real Memphis too, and I applaud the Tuohys for helping this young man and giving him a chance.
The New York Times recent comparison between "The Blind Side" and "Precious" ended memorably when the writer (don't have the link) noted that the message of TBS seems to be that the best hope for poor African-American kids in this country is to be reared by a wealthy white family. A bit of an overgeneralization, yes, but clearly, we are a long way from racial harmony.
I would add "Stick it" to the list of good sports movies. I'm always happy to hear that I'm not abnormal really liking a good sports movie!
It was nice to catch a glimps of you yesterday - if I could actually get to church early maybe I could have had a chance to at least say "hi"! Hope you had a good flight back to Texas (can't say 'home' - you were home).
Jessica
Movies for me are entertainment.....pure and simple. When they're not I ask myself " What am I doing here?" but I can't get out.
i want to post this on my film site.
Well golly, Kevin. I'd be honored to put my hand in the popcorn bag ... but I'm sure it needs a little ... development! Also, I'd need to add several pictures of Kate Bosworth on a surfboard!
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