Apparently, there were two main thrusts that drove both the real life story and the success of the film: football and Jesus. Guy Lodge at In Contention looks at how the marketing team went straight for the god-fearin’ Heartland when looking for movie dollars. Thing is, the Heartland has been left out of much of the Oscar race for the last long while. There have been films with performances that were worthy of consideration but because they were “family” films and they starred a country/western singer, no one ever took them seriously. But money, as Bob Dylan reminds us, doesn’t talk, it swears. As The Blind Side closed in on $300 million it started to get the industry’s attention.
In her defense of Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side, Salon’s Stephanie Zacharek does talk a bit about the film’s main character’s politics, but mostly she is trying to tell people that a good performance is a good performance, no matter if it’s artsy fartsy or not. It isn’t often that film critics try to talk Oscar but every once in a while they shock even themselves by dipping a toe into that fecund pool. Here is Zacharek in defense of Ms. Bullock:
But so much of what’s great in acting, as in life, happens in the margins. “Deserving” isn’t the same as marvelous, thrilling, sexy, titillating, arresting, strange or discombobulating. It doesn’t always allow for wonder or surprise or anger, or any number of complicated feelings that actors can draw out of us. And an actor who pulls off one of the hardest effects to achieve — that of believable, extraordinary ordinariness — is likely to get lost in the shuffle.
Which is why I’m here to give a big Texas cheerleader shout-out to Sandra Bullock in John Lee Hancock’s “The Blind Side.” The movie, based on the true story chronicled in Michael Lewis’ book “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game,” details the rags-to-shoulder-pads rise of Michael Oher, a once-homeless African-American kid who was taken in by a Memphis mom and her family and who, with their help and encouragement, went on to become a top NFL draft pick. In the movie, the lumbering, gentle Oher — his nickname, one that we learn he doesn’t much care for, is “Big Mike” — is played by Quinton Aaron, in a cautious and economical performance. Bullock is the Memphis mom, Leigh Anne Tuohy, a former Ole Miss cheerleader who lives extremely comfortably in a big house with her husband, a former star athlete himself (played by Tim McGraw), and her two children. She works (as an interior decorator), she raises her kids, and she engages in occasional fundraising activities with the other society ladies. She’s blond (from a bottle, natch), she’s peppy and she’s a Republican. So what else do you need to know?
Finally, Zacharek closes it out with:
The response among people I’ve read and talked to since Bullock’s nomination seems to amount to this: She’s an actress people like, but they’re more grudging about granting their respect. But I’d argue that playing an extraordinary everyperson comes with its own specific challenges and its own potential pitfalls. What Sandra Bullock does in “The Blind Side” is wonderful precisely because it doesn’t reach for greatness. Instead it’s built on the sturdy, reliable vocabulary of the ordinary.
But wait, wasn’t Bullock’s character such a big deal because she was anything but ordinary? What was it about the real Leigh Anne Tuohy that was so exceptional people came from miles around to gaze at her generosity? She adopted a black football player who had no home. A wonderful gesture that happens all over the country, all over the world, every day. The difference here is that the football player himself became such a success despite the way the film dumbed him down.¬† The story, though, ends up being about how great Leigh Anne Tuohy is, and then is translated into how great Sandra Bullock is. I will admit I am completely taken in by sap. It gets me every time. The Kite Runner, The Great Debaters. So I’m not judging here in the least bit. And the more rich white families who share their homes with poor kids who have no families, the better.
So I agree with Zacharek that we ought to remove the politics and faith-based themes of this film (for anyone who might have a problem with that) and just look at the quality of the performance.
I will say that Oscar winners win for all kinds of crazy roles — half of the time, they don’t deserve to win but win because they are the most “liked.” Academy voters aren’t critics and they aren’t fans. This business is their bread and butter. They’re certainly not going to ignore a performance that is arguably the most popular and most talked about performance of the year.
Okay, ducking and putting on my body armor.
Oh and let me answer the questions in advance: What do I have against Christians? Nothing.